UFC's Jon Jones Arrested

[The Unknown Poster]

MMAfighting.com

 

Just a few hours after turning himself in, Jon Jones is out of jail Monday night.

 

The UFC light heavyweight champion posted $2,500 bail and was released before 10 p.m. local time, according to Bernalillo County Metro Detention Center records. Jones was arrested on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving death or personal injuries earlier Monday evening. Jones was booked 7:11 p.m. local time.

 

Jones, 27, allegedly ran a red light Sunday morning, striking a car driven by a pregnant woman. There was also a third car involved. The woman, whose name is Vanessa Sonnenberg, broke her arm in the incident. Jones is being accused of fleeing the scene on foot. There was a marijuana pipe and marijuana found in the rental car Jones allegedly left behind. An off-duty police officer, a UFC fan, identified Jones at the scene. Witnesses said Jones went back to the vehicle to grab a handful of money before running away.

 

Sonnenberg's injury upgraded the Jones charge from a potential misdemeanor to a felony. The arrest warrant was issued Monday afternoon. Jones was also incommunicable until Monday afternoon. His lawyer arranged the plans for Jones to turn himself in, per the Albuquerque Police Department.

 

UFC has acknowledged Jones' arrest and the promotion does not expect to provide any further statements Monday night. The UFC said in a statement Sunday that it would wait for more information to come in before commenting further. Jones' UFC 187 main event title defense against Anthony Johnson has not officially been called off.

 

Jones recently moved with his fiancée and three daughters to Albuquerque from upstate New York. He has trained at Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in the New Mexico city for years.

 

Jones, regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, has had troubles in the past. He was busted for DWI in 2012 and in December tested positive for cocaine metabolites in an out-of-competition drug test conducted by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

 

That same commission is watching this current situation for closely, executive director Bob Bennett told MMAFighting.com on Monday.

 

 

 

 

[The Unknown Poster]

Figured this would be of interest to UFC fans.  Especially in light of the big Boxing fight this weekend.  At what point does talent and drawing ability not trump being a piece of sh!t?

[bigg jay]

It will be interesting to see how the UFC handles this latest situation.  I'm amazed they haven't cancelled his upcoming fight yet.

[bigg jay]

Figured this would be of interest to UFC fans.  Especially in light of the big Boxing fight this weekend.  At what point does talent and drawing ability not trump being a piece of ****?

[sweep the leg]

I guess that day in rehab didn't help him sort his issues out.

 

I don't really like him, but I hope he gets his crap together. He's the best fighter I've ever seen and it would be a shame to see all of that talent wasted.

[The Unknown Poster]

UFC needs stars now more than ever.  But I'd have a lot of respect for them if they used this as a contract breach and suspended him indefinitely.  Either way, he will likely now be subject to regular drug testing so he'll get himself screwed eventually, if he's allowed to keep fighting.

[The Unknown Poster]

UFC did the right thing. Stripped and suspended him.

[Brandon]

And to think Nick Diaz gets an easy one year suspension for a little weed.

I'm surprised they did anything since Rampage got away with doing the same thing.

[bigg jay]

And to think Nick Diaz gets an easy one year suspension for a little weed.

I'm surprised they did anything since Rampage got away with doing the same thing.

 

Diaz got suspended from a commission though not the UFC.  There might still be more fallout for Jones on top of what the UFC has done,  he wasn't finished dealing with the NSAC about the press conference brawl with Cormier.  NSAC put out a release saying they were monitoring the latest incident closely.

 

Rampage did get away with a very similar situation, but his was a one-time incident while this was strike 3 (at minimum) for Jones.    Rampage should have been punished for it though (IMO).

[The Unknown Poster]

UFC will need to implement some life skills training to their roster of fighters.  It might have been cool or helped their "edge" factor in years past to have some thugs or guys skirting the law but they are a massive company now.  The NBA did the life skills thing.  WWE does it.  Help these guys with money management, PR, dealing with stress etc.

[bigg jay]

It might be harder for the UFC to implement something like that.  The average "major" mma career (Bellator or UFC) is only 1.5 years or 3-4 fights & most of their roster doesn't make anywhere near enough money that they have trouble managing it all.  By the time they put the fighters through some life skills training, most of them would have already washed out of the UFC.

[bigg jay]

Reebok has now terminated their contract with Jones.   2nd major endorsement deal cancelled in 8 months for him (Nike was the 1st).

 

http://mmajunkie.com/2015/04/reebok-terminates-sponsorship-of-ex-ufc-champ-jon-jones

[The Unknown Poster]

The good news for UFC (and Jones) is the public loves a comeback.  if he can turn things around, the return match for the title will be massive. 

 

You make a good point about the shortness of most careers.  I think how WWE does it is a series of classes as part of their development program.  So when you're signed, you have medicals and when you report, you get maybe a one day seminar on certain aspects of life as a celebrity etc.  And then further access, should they want it, to money management etc.  Because they are independant contractors (UFC fighters are too, no?) there are different tax implications and responsibilities.  I think signing a guy and having him attend a one day or two day class isnt a bad idea.  But I guess when you look the sheer number of fighters, it's a "small" problem, not a big one.

 

Maybe not the thread for this, but in other UFC news, Dana White said he would not allow Rousey to work a match for WWE which doesnt surprise me though so many people assumed it was a done deal.

[bigg jay]

The public loves a comeback but usually with a guy they want to root for... Jones has never been that guy.  He gets booed a lot because he comes off as fake.  He should take Chael Sonnen's advice and embrace the heel role.   The comeback fight could be great... if it's against the right person.  Daniel Cormier has replaced him against Anthony Johnson next month and I'm sure the UFC is hoping DC does not win.  The Jones/Cormier fight was so one-sided that I don't know too many people who would be interested in a rematch.

 

Yes, UFC fighters are considered independant contractors.  One way the UFC could potentially address this would be to structure it like they do their new Reebok sponsorship deal.  1-5 fights = 1 day orientation, 6-10 fights = PR/Stress management, 11 fights and up, money management.  It would allow them to focus the training where it was most needed.  Guys in the 1st tier usually are on the fight pass prelims so they are seen by very few people and are out of the UFC before anyone really knows their name but they still need to know what's expected of them.  2nd tier guys are getting a bit of a name so they'll have to learn how to deal with the attention.  3rd tier guys are now (usually) making much better money and all the trappings that come with it.

[Brandon]

People only want to watch good fights and don't care about them being bad guys.

Didn't Rampage hit a pregnant lady and the lady ended up losing the kid? Yet he's still somewhat liked by the fans.

[The Unknown Poster]

That's true to a degree.  But there are different levels of fans too.  Im by no means a serious UFC fan and didnt know of Jones' prior issues until this happened.  A lot of people wont know and wont care.  Some will know a little and not care.  Some will know the entire story and not care.  And some WILL care.

 

Mayweather is a POS.  And look at him.

 

Remember when there were people cheering for a vicious double murderer because he was a former sports star and celebrity?  You will always have those that think it's cool or funny to be a POS.

[bigg jay]

Rampage's situation was much worse.  He ended being charged with 2 felonies & 4 misdemeanors after hitting a few cars & taking police on a chase against traffic.  He plead down to 1 felony & 1 misdemeanor & got community service (to give you an idea what Jones is facing).

 

One of the people he hit was a pregnant woman who ended up suing him (she dismissed the case less than a year later so they may have settled out of court).  The medical evidence showed that her miscarriage was not related to the accident though.

[Brandon]

Anyone watch the big fight? I enjoyed it and to me it played out exactly how it was expected to go.

Mayweather completely out boxed him and won an easy decision.

I was surprised that pacman and some sites actually had him winning?

It was complete domination in my eyes...