Dana White was not shocked when he heard Jon Jones had been arrested again and says it’s to be expected when the former light-heavyweight champion is in Las Vegas.
On Thursday, ‘Bones’ was in Vegas to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. The 205lb great spoke with optimism and hope about his fighting future when accepting the award for his 2013 fight with Alexander Gustafsson.
Just hours later he was in a police cell after allegedly being involved in an incident involving battery domestic violence, as well as injuring and tampering with a vehicle.
White seem unsurprised by Jones’ arrest when speaking to assembled media ahead of UFC 266.
“Let’s see how this plays out legally for him, and where this ends up going,” White said. “It’s hard to bring this guy to Las Vegas for any reason.
“This city is not good for Jon Jones, and here we are again. It’s not even shocking anymore. When we bring him here, it’s almost expected. You can’t even get him to Las Vegas for less than 12 hours to induct him into the hall-of-fame. It’s a problem.
“The guy has a lot of demons, man, a lot of demons,” White added.
“Is it really shocking anymore? It’s really not. It’s become not shocking. It’s almost like ‘uh oh, he’s in Vegas again, what’s gonna happen today?’ You want to hope that the guy is better, and that won’t be the case, but he proves every time he comes to this town that he can’t handle this place.” (Transcribed by Bloody Elbow)
Dana White on Jones's arrest: "Is it really shocking any more? It's really not. It's become not shocking, it's almost like 'uh oh, he's in Vegas again, what's gonna happen today?'… He proves every time he comes to (Vegas) that he can't handle this place."
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In March of last year, Jones was arrested and charged with aggravated DWI, possession of an open container, driving with no proof of insurance, and negligent use of a firearm. The former champ struck a plea deal that saw him serve just four days of house arrest with one year of supervised probation, 48 hours of community service, as well as a period of 90 days in outpatient therapy. Prior to that, he was arrested in 2012, 2015, and 2019 for various incidents.
How does this latest arrest impact the already fragile working relationship between Jon Jones and Dana White?