Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will be eligible to return to competition next month after an independent arbitrator issued a 15-month suspension retroactive to last July for his second violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.

According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), a sample collected from Jones on July 28, 2017, the day prior to his fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 in Anaheim, Calif., tested positive for M3, a metabolite of dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT), or another chlorine-substituted anabolic steroid, which is a banned substance.

The 31-year-old Jones will be eligible to compete again starting Oct. 28, which is less than a week prior to UFC 230, which takes place Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden, an event that has been rumoured to include Jones.

Per the report issued by Toronto-based McLaren Global Sport Solutions, the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) test determined Jones’s sample had a concentration of 20-80 picograms/milliliter (picogram = one trillionth of a gram). No oral Turinabol or short/medium term metabolites of it were found in the sample.

“The independent arbitrator found that Jon Jones was not intentionally cheating in this case, and while we thought 18 months was the appropriate sanction given the other circumstances of the case, we respect the arbitrator’s decision and believe that justice was served,” said USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart in a press release.

Per the report, part of the decision by the USADA to reduce Jones’s suspension was his co-operation with what is known as “substantial assistance,” which will help the USADA identify others who are in violation of the anti-doping policy.

The arbitrator in the case was Richard H. McLaren, chief arbitrator for Toronto-based McLaren Global Sport Solutions.

“The arbitrator found that Jones never intentionally or knowingly took steroids and the result of the positive test was the result of a contaminated substance,” said UFC president Dana White in a comment issued to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “The science completely supports that finding. The science doesn’t lie so I look forward to getting him back early next year.”

Jones initially recaptured the light heavyweight title with a win over Cormier at UFC 214. After he was flagged by the USADA for an anti-doping violation, the result was overturned to a no contest and Cormier retained the title.

Since then, Cormier has defended the light heavyweight title and then went on to capture the heavyweight title, becoming only the second athlete in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in two different divisions.

“I want to thank all of you who have stood by me during the toughest stretch of my life. It has meant the world to me and always will. But now is the time to shift focus front and center to the road ahead,” said Jones in an Instagram post.

White, in a comment to ESPN’s Okamoto, denied that the current plan was for Jones to be headlining the Nov. 3 event.