Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is back in hot water with legal troubles. Again.
Jones (26-1, 1 NC) was arrested early Friday in Las Vegas on charges of misdemeanor battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle. ESPN’s Marc Raimondi was the first to report the infractions, which came just hours after Jones was inducted into the fight wing of the UFC Hall of Fame alongside Alexander Gustafsson for their 2013 thriller which Jones won by close decision.
The 34-year-old from Rochester, New York, who lives and trains out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is currently being held on a 12-hour hold at Clark County Detention Center. His total bail is $8,000 for the two charges, per online inmate records.
“The facts are still developing, we really don’t know yet the full story so I’m not going to make any comment until I have a chance to talk to Jon and until we see see how this plays out,” Jones’ advisor Richard Schaefer told ESPN.
The timing of the arrest, which occurred at 5:45 a.m. at a resort near Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, comes at a poor time for Jones as he continues a difficult stretch of negotiations with UFC brass regarding being paid more for taking on the danger of moving up to heavyweight.
Jones told media members during Friday’s Hall of Fame red carpet that he was “in a good place” with UFC president Dana White and expected to make his debut within the division in 2022, hopefully against the winner of Francis Ngannou-Cyril Gane for the undisputed title.
Even worse, the bad headlines only added to Jones’ history of arrests and drug test failures that have seen him set a record for being stripped of UFC titles on three occasions for behavioral reasons over a 13-year career that has seen “Bones” receive acclaim by man as the greatest fighter in the sport’s history.
In March 2020, Jones failed a field sobriety test in New Mexico after officers responded to reports of gun shots. Jones was charged with aggravated DWI, negligent use of a firearm, possession of an open container of alcohol and driving with no proof of insurance. He later accepted a plea deal that lowered the charges down to DWI and served four days’ house arrest, one year of probation and 90 days of outpatient therapy, along with community service.
Previously, Jones’ highest profile infraction came in 2015 when he left the scene of an accident in Albuquerque after running a red light and crashing his rental car. Jones left behind drug paraphernalia in the car and was later charged with felony hit and run due to injuries caused in the three-car accident.
Jones, who is a father of three daughters with long-time fiancé Jessie Moses, hasn’t fought since a February 2020 decision win over Dominick Reyes in defense of his 205-pound title at UFC 247. The win set a new record of 14 victories in UFC title fights although Jones would vacate the belt shortly after in announcing a move to heavyweight.
A public dispute with UFC president Dana White would follow for Jones throughout 2020 as he campaigned to be paid more to challenge bigger and more dangerous foes like Ngannou, who captured the heavyweight title in March 2021 by knocking out Stipe Miocic in their rematch.
Jones, who hired longtime boxing promoter Richard Schaefer as an advisor to help deal with the UFC, said Friday he had rebuilt his body up to 255 pounds and was hoping to weigh 270 before cutting weight ahead of his first heavyweight bout.
