Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past two days, you know all about the current shenanigans surrounding UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Just in case, here’s a quick recap: Jones was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run on Sunday morning, fleeing the scene of a car accident after running a red light and striking a vehicle with a pregnant woman inside.
As if running away weren’t bad enough, the women in the other vehicle suffered a broken arm. And so, just like that, Jones’ misdemeanor became a felony. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and Jones turned himself in on Monday night. He was quickly released on $2,500 bail.
Now, all eyes turn toward the UFC. It issued a complete non-statement statement on Sunday, saying, essentially, that they aware of the situation. That just proves that they have Twitter like the rest of the world. We know that they are aware of the situation. The question is, what will they do?
Will they support him? Will we, as Dana White said in January after Jones tested positive for cocaine, understand when “the truth comes out“? What’s next for the best fighter in the history of mixed martial arts?
To discuss this, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden and Jeremy Botter join forces like a good-guy version of the Suicide Squad to answer The Question: What should the UFC do about its Jon Jones problem?
Jeremy: Jon, I’m just going to come right out and say it. The UFC needs to strip Jones of its light heavyweight championship and put him on the shelf for at least a year. And that’s the absolute minimum.
I don’t care how the legal system works and I don’t care that he needs his day in court. Both of those things are true. But it is also true that this is a grown man with an obvious problem, and that he needs the kind of help he is clearly never going to seek on his own.
If the eyewitness accounts are true, Jones ran a red light, crashed into another car, began making his escape, then came back for cash while leaving a marijuana pipe with marijuana in it before leaping over a fence and running away. You can’t explain this one away.
And even if Jones somehow makes it out unscathed, without facing any prison time, the UFC has to take a stand. At the minimum, they have to strip him of the championship and suspend him for a year. Will that happen? I have my doubts. And that’s the maddening thing: Jones is a star, and so he’s treated differently.
He shouldn’t be.
Jonathan: I couldn’t disagree with you more here Jeremy. The idea of punishing someone before they’ve had a chance to present a defense is utterly un-American. In every civilized society in the world, you are innocent until proven guilty. The rule of law is absolutely fundamental to our way of life.
Even for UFC fighters.
Instead of rash action, I’d advise caution here. The UFC tends to run into problems when it responds with emotion rather than reason. Let the legal system go to work. Give Jones his day in court. Then decide what additional punishments to dole out, if any.
In the meantime, the UFC could proactively work with Jones and his team to get him help if he needs it. There are signs of substance abuse everywhere here. If Jones does have a problem, the focus should be on helping him, not punishing him. That’s the best goal, long term, for everyone involved.
Jeremy: I agree that the legal system needs to run its course here. And, normally, I would suggest waiting to see how things play out.
But Jones has a history. The DWI in 2012. The cocaine test in December. He’s the best fighter in the world and one of the UFC’s most visible stars, and he continues to bring a bad look to the promotion. Granted, they haven’t exactly done their part to prevent that bad look, but still: It’s not good.
And it’s not without precedent. The NFL has shown a quick hand in suspending players involved in things like this, even before the justice system runs its course, when there has been enough evidence to show that whatever happens in court won’t really be all that surprising. The same thing should happen here. Jones may end up settling and he may end up not going to jail. Maybe nothing will happen to him from a legal perspective, even though it might be the best thing for him. But from a fighting perspective, something has to be done.
Jonathan: Does it though? Why?
Fighting is a different beast. We keep trying to cram mixed martial arts into a mold created for the NFL and other team sports. Maybe it just doesn’t fit?
Sure, we’ve seen the NFL act quickly to punish player conduct, especially when under the spotlight. But we’ve also seen how boxing operates.
Floyd Mayweather not only competed months after pleading guilty to a domestic violence charge but actually had the court delay his jail term until after his bout with Miguel Cotto was complete. I’m not saying that was necessarily the right call—but it does show that combat sports don’t have to play by the same rules every one else so slavishly obeys.
Switching gears a bit here Jeremy, but is it OK at all to be enjoying this scandal a little bit? Since the victim was not seriously injured, I say it’s OK for us to marvel about the particular circumstances here. If the police report is accurate, Jon Jones didn’t just run away from a car accident on foot, he actually ran away from a car accident on foot and then returned to the scene of the crime to stuff a wad of cash down his pants.
Jones’ actions were incredibly serious that day. But they were also a little bit hilarious. Who does that?
Jeremy: If it doesn’t fit into the same mold, then the UFC is utterly failing on their mission statement. But at the same time, I agree with you. I’ve told folks for years that fighting is never going to be a mainstream thing. Because, despite White’s famous refrain, fighting is not in our DNA. Most people, if they see a fight on a street corner, are not going to stop and watch. They’re going to call for help.
And I don’t think Floyd Mayweather is a good example here. He brings so much money to Nevada that everyone in the government will band together to make sure he’s coddled. The fact that his jail sentence was postponed so that he could fight here tells you all you need to know. The government here is complicit in the Mayweather business, because the Mayweather business is good. Which is mostly corruption, but whatever.
I don’t think we should be enjoying this at all, but I do think the idea of a UFC champion thinking he could get away from such a major problem by leaping over a fence and running away is, at least on the surface, a laughable thought. I mean, did he think it was all going to go away?
Jonathan: I think the UFC only has one real course of action here, Jeremy. Rather than suspend Jones, I recommend that they pull him from UFC 187 while waiting for his legal proceedings to play out.
That way he isn’t being unduly punished before the facts are established but the UFC also isn’t immediately rewarding him with a payday worth millions of dollars. Then, once we are all on firmer ground here, the organization can take further action as warranted.
Whatever happens, the focus should be on getting Jones the help he needs. That’s the right thing to do. Let’s hope the UFC sees it that way too.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com