Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones granted one-fight conditional license for UFC 235

LAS VEGAS – The Nevada State Athletic Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to grant Jon Jones a one-fight conditional license to compete at UFC 235, clearing the way for the light heavyweight champ's fight against Anthony Smith.

As a condition of his licensure, Jones must submit to and pay for additional drug testing by the NSAC over the next 40 days, or until the March 2 pay-per-view event.

The commission will then meet in February to determine more drug testing to be carried out by a mix of three agencies: UFC anti-doping partner U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) and the NSAC.

NSAC Chairman Anthony Marnell said the testing will continue for all of 2019 and warned Jones, "You're probably not going to get another license here" if the UFC champ stopped early.

Jones, who appeared in person at a hearing Tuesday in Las Vegas alongside his attorney Paul Greene, declined an interview to reporters, but made a statement before exiting.

"Thank you so much to USADA, thank you to Nevada State Athletic Commission, my team, the UFC, mainly the fans and everyone for sticking by me throughout this process allowing me to say my peace, allowing me to go through this process and eventually proving my innocence," he said. "I'm super grateful to be back fighting in Nevada. I'm excited for March 2. It's going to be a magnificent event and I'm just really looking forward to all the testing, looking forward to getting back in front of the fans and just putting on great fights."

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