Wednesday night the UFC broke news that they would be stripping Jon Jones of his title; this coming days after Jones allegedly caused a three car wreck in Albuquerque, NM. He then fled the scene on foot, before returning to the scene to grab some cash out of his rental car, then ran off again. An off-duty officer that was on the scene, and a UFC fan, identified Jones. While searching the rental car, officers found documents with Jones’ name on them, as well as a marijuana pipe filled with marijuana. By Sunday afternoon, Jon was wanted for questioning but was nowhere to be found. By Monday, he was wanted for felony hit-and-run.
Monday night, Jon Jones showed up to the Albuquerque Police Department with his attorney and turned himself into authorities; he was then released on $2,500 bail. After posting bail, Jones looked to be in as much of a hurry as he was when he fled the scene of the accident. He power walked from the gate of the jail to his car with his face covered, while media tried to question him. Then on Tuesday, just a couple of hours before the UFC announced they would be stripping Jones of his belt, he tweeted, “Got a lot of soul searching to do. Sorry to everyone I’ve let down.” To make matters worse, Reebok announced they had terminated Jon’s contract. Even though I wouldn’t rule Reebok out for being to blame for Jones running. Have you seen the ZPump Fusions? Who wouldn’t want to run like crazy with a pair of those on?
Although Jones has been one of the most dominant champs in the UFC, he hasn’t been one of the best behaved. For years, Jon Jones’ opponents have called him “fake” before a fight. They claimed the nice, well-mannered man you see in the interviews, isn’t who Jon is. Most fans thought of it as trash talk and felt it had no real meaning on Jon’s character; I mean, the guy stopped a robber in the streets of Paterson, NJ just hours before he beat Shogun Rua. He can’t be that bad of a guy.
Then came the DWI in May of 2012. Jon was partying with friends from high school in Binghampton, NY. On his way home, with female friends who weren’t his fiancé, he crashed his Bentley into a telephone pole. He pleaded guilty to a DWI, and the UFC brushed it off as being young and dumb, and let everyone know “we all make mistakes.” After a while, most of us forgot about it. Jones was kicking ass in the octagon, and putting meat in the seats. Then came the feud with Daniel Cormier.
This is where people started saying to themselves, “Jon Jones is kind of a piece of shit sometimes.” In August of last year, Jones faced off with Daniel Cormier for the light-heavyweight title. The two had a strong disliking for each other that started before they were in the same weight class. While promoting the fight in the MGM Grand lobby, Jones and Cormier met face to face and a brawl broke out after Jones took a punch at Cormier. Although Cormier did push Jones first and then ended up throwing a shoe, it was Jones that ended up looking like the bad guy. In possibly the funniest interview we have ever seen, Jones and Cormier had some choice words for each other after the brawl. Caught when they thought cameras weren’t rolling, Jones talked about “literally” killing Cormier, and referred to him as a pussy; which I’m told is slang for a woman’s private parts. That was also when he lost his first big sponsorship, Nike. Yeah that’s right, this guy has lost two major contracts due to his behavior. Then to top it off, Jones failed a drug test taken about a month before his bout with Cormier; Jones tested positive for cocaine. However, since it was “out of competition,” and “he was already under contract to fight,” the UFC did nothing. They didn’t even announce it to the public until after his fight. Jon Jones, on his own free will, entered a rehab facility to seek treatment. Jones spent a grueling 30-60 minutes in rehab. He went through detox, and all 12 steps of recovery, with the same speed he shows in the octagon. After answering questions and filling out paper work, Jones was cured, and left the facility never to do drugs again; at least that’s what I thought.
Jones is currently suspended indefinitely from the UFC, and facing 3 years in prison if indicted. Not only will this have a serious impact on his legacy, but it will also impact his pockets. The guy lost out on deals with Nike and Reebok, who even gets that kind of opportunity?
Will Jon Jones be able to make a comeback? I think he will, and I don’t think it will be hard for him either. He has good lawyers and enough money, and still young. Also, I don’t think Jones will serve any jail time. The UFC will end up saying “we all make mistakes,” and Jones will be back in the octagon. He may not have those big endorsement deals, but he will be an even bigger draw when he comes back. Just think, if Cormier beats Anthony Johnson for the vacant title, then grabs the mic from Joe Rogan and ask, “You there pussy?” That would setup one of the biggest rematches in UFC history. Let’s just hope Jones is able to keep his nose, and pipes clean.
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