LAS VEGAS – Mixed martial arts superstar Jon Jones tested positive for benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite in cocaine, on Dec. 4, 2014, a month before his successful light heavyweight title defense last week against Daniel Cormier at the MGM Grand Garden.

The Nevada Athletic Commission learned of Jones' positive test when it received the results from Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory of Salt Lake City on Dec. 23. The commission had randomly tested Jones early in the month as part of its initiative to more stringently fight performance-enhancing drug usage in combat sports.

So the commission knew that Jones tested positive a month prior to his fight, yet:

• Jones was permitted to fight Cormier as scheduled.

• He made his entire $500,000 purse, minus the $50,000 that the commission deducted for his role in an Aug. 4 brawl with Cormier after a news conference.

• He won't face any punishment in the form of a fine or a suspension.

• The win over Cormier will remain in the record books.

Boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. did not have it so easy when he smoked marijuana prior to a fight with Sergio Martinez in 2012.

View photos Jon Jones reacts after the end of his UFC light heavyweight title bout with Daniel Cormier. (USAT) More

Marijuana metabolites were discovered in Chavez's urine following a drug test that was administered to him on Sept. 15, 2012, the night of his middleweight title fight with Martinez at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Chavez admitted his usage and was fined $900,000 and suspended for nine months by the Nevada commission. After the threat of a lawsuit for an excessive fine, the fine was reduced to $100,000, but Chavez still served the nine-month suspension.

The discrepancy between the two situations led thousands of fans to howl in protest Tuesday. They blasted the commission for ineptitude, ripped the UFC and president Dana White and wound up posing a peculiar question:

"Why does the Nevada Athletic Commission bar marijuana but permit cocaine?"

It's all very complicated, but the Nevada commission is hardly comprised of the unenlightened fools that reporters and fans are making its five members out to be.

The Nevada commission did nothing because it had no legal authority to do anything.

Period.

Nevada follows the World Anti-Doping Agency code on drug testing matters. In the 2015 WADA Code, it defines in-competition and out-of-competition testing – a very important distinction.

According to Appendix One of the WADA code, in-competition is defined thusly:

"Unless provided otherwise in the rules of an international Federation or the ruling body of the event in question, 'In-Competition' means the period commencing twelve hours before a Competition in which the athlete is scheduled to participate through the end of such Competition and the Sample collection process related to such Competition."

The definition of out-of-competition is a little easier to understand:

"Any period which is not In-Competition."

Given that Jones was tested more than 12 hours before his bout, he was considered out-of-competition. And that's where the WADA prohibited list comes into play.

Cocaine is banned by the WADA list only in-competition. That simple fact is crucial to understanding this.

Chavez's positive test came on the night of the fight, or in-competition. Jones' positive test was out-of-competition.

Given its adherence to the WADA code, the commission can legally only penalize Jones for using cocaine in-competition. Given that his positive test came out-of-competition, its hands were tied and it was legally barred from taking action.

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