Update 3:35 p.m. ET: Jon Jones will reportedly be charged with a felony after Sunday’s suspected hit-and-run in New Mexico, as detailed below.
UPDATE: UFC champion Jon Jones expected to be charged with a felony in connection to hit-and-run. (via @bokamotoESPN & multiple reports)
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) abril 27, 2015
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Original story: News broke early Sunday that UFC lightweight champion Jon Jones was being sought by New Mexico Police for questioning with regards to a hit and run accident where the victim was a pregnant woman. Jones has not come forward, and his lawyers and representatives have not returned calls either. On Monday morning, the MMA news site MMAJunkie reported that Jones has been upgraded to “suspect” by New Mexico police.
Jones is in Albuquerque training with the Greg Jackson team for his May 23 fight with Anthony Johnson. Jones, a native of New York, has had past car accidents that resulted in a DUI and more famously, he tested positive for cocaine late last year. His past creates a lot of questions around this incident, and Jones apparent hiding out is another hugely bad sign around the champion.
If this turns into something that prevents Jones from performing, the UFC should take immediate action and strip him of the belt. A Daniel Cormier versus Anthony Johnson match should be booked, not as an interim title, but as the full fledged light heavyweight title that Jones has.
The UFC has been lenient with Jones, fining him chump change for his cocaine use. There are parts of this story that are not clear and not complete, such as why Jones was not held accountable by either the UFC or the Nevada State Commission or somebody for entering a rehab clinic around the positive cocaine test, only to leave the facility a day later.
In the past they allowed him to play prima-donna and turn down a lesser opponent in Chael Sonnen, causing a UFC event to be cancelled. It is clear that Jones is an ego run wild at this point, and that he is capable of losing control. He has never admitted to doing anything wrong, and until now the consequences have been limited. If this plays out in anyway negatively, which it is hard to believe it won’t, it is time Jon Jones learn a lesson about life.
Now, the UFC 187 card would still be headlined by the middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort, and it has had strong supporting fights booked such as the lightweight tussle between Donald Cerrone and Khabib Nurmagomendov and the heavyweight tilt between Andrei Arlovski and Travis Browne, but there is no doubt it would be greatly diminished without Jones headlining the card.
