LAS VEGAS — Conor McGregor has many of the things Jon Jones has: money, fame and the ability to beat almost anyone in a fight. But “The Notorious” just doesn’t get Jones’ current mess.
Last month, Jones was arrested on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury or death. Jones allegedly ran a red light in a rented Buick SUV in Albuquerque and struck a car driven by a pregnant woman. The woman ended up breaking her arm in the crash. Jones allegedly fled the scene and Albuquerque police were not able to get a hold of him until 24 hours later when he turned himself in.
McGregor has tried to put himself in that same situation. He’s thought to himself if something like that could happen to him. He cannot relate.
“I can’t understand it,” McGregor said at an open workout Thursday to promote UFC 189. “Like, get a driver. Get driven. If I go out now, I’m driven in a limo. You know what I mean? You’ve got money. I don’t know. It’s just a weird situation. But I wish him well. I hope he gets his head together and comes back. He’s a great man, he’s a great champion.”
The UFC suspended Jones and stripped his light heavyweight title one day after his arrest. Instead of him fighting Anthony Johnson in the main event of UFC 187 on Saturday night here at MGM Grand, Daniel Cormier will take Jones’ place. The vacant title is on the line.
When McGregor was asked what he does to avoid making bad decisions like that, he was mostly at a loss.
“Keep your team around you,” he said. “I’ve met Jon many times and I love Jon. He’s a great man. He’s a great fighter. But his decisions and his choices, I don’t understand how. You’ve got millions in the bank. How can you be in a little desert town in Albuquerque and be in a little rental Buick?”
McGregor, who challenges Jose Aldo for the featherweight title in the main event of UFC 189 on July 11, isn’t sure if Jones’ team failed him or if he has the wrong people around him.
McGregor has said many times that he is not big into partying. McGregor is doing his training camp in Las Vegas and said that some of his teammates staying with him in a rented mansion wanted to go out to The Strip to a club recently. So, McGregor and his team went out one night to blow off some steam and that was it.
“We had a good night, head home and now it’s done,” McGregor said. “Now that temptation is killed nice and early. If you let it build and build and build, then people start getting agitated and want to go out and do other stuff. And it leads into something bad. We killed it and now we are focusing in.”
Try as he might, McGregor just can’t seem to understand Jones’ issues.
“I cannot put myself in that,” he said. “I keep my people who are with me [the ones] that have been around from Day one. I don’t know. I wish Jon well. But I cannot put myself in those shoes. I don’t know what the difference is.”