Author: Dan Hiergesell

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White is not surprised by former champion Jon Jones’ recent arrest.

Jones, who was brought in by police Friday morning in Las Vegas for misdemeanor battery domestic violence, as well as injuring and tampering with a vehicle, was in town for a Hall of Fame fight induction. White and Jones haven’t seen eye-to-eye over the past year amidst ongoing contract negotiations so this weekend could have been a kumbaya moment.

Instead, Jones finds himself in jail just hours after his Hall of Fame appearance. The former UFC light heavyweight champion will spend the night behind bars until seeing a judge Saturday afternoon.

“Obviously, we’ll see how this plays out legally for him and where this ends up going,” White told reporters on Friday (via ESPN MMA). “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.”

Jones, who has taken time off from fighting to plot his move to heavyweight, is no stranger to legal issues. A slew of previous arrests and failed drug tests have unfortunately landed Jones on the bad list more times than he’d like. In fact, White isn’t too surprised to see Jones on the wrong side of the law once again.

“It’s like… it’s not even shocking anymore,” White explained. “When we bring him here it’s almost expected. You can’t even get him in Las Vegas for less than 12 hours to induct him into the Hall of Fame. It’s a problem. This guy’s got a lot of demons, man. A lot of demons.

“Is it really shocking anymore? It’s really not. It’s become not shocking. It’s almost like, ‘Uh oh, this guy is in Vegas, what’s gonna happen today?’ You want to hope that the guy is better and that won’t be the case, but he proves that every time he comes to this town that he can’t handle this place.”

As White eluded to, we need to let this entire situation play out before predicting how things will go down for Jones moving forward. “Bones” was on his way towards a heavyweight debut in 2022, but now we have to reserve our expectations when it comes to the former champ’s UFC career.

Stay tuned for more updates on Jones’ recent arrest.

Former Strikeforce welterweight champion and UFC title challenger Nick Diaz will make his first Octagon appearance in over six years tomorrow night (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) at UFC 266 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Diaz, who remains one of the most popular fighters in MMA today, will be matched up against Robbie Lawler in a five-round middleweight bout. It will be a rematch from their first meeting at UFC 47 all the way back in 2004. Diaz ended up defeating “Ruthless” with an infamous first-round knockout.

Fast forward 17 years later and Diaz is about to fight Lawler again for his first action in a very long time. There are a ton of current fight fans who may have never even seen Diaz compete, let alone compete in his prime. That’s not to say that the veteran fighter can’t turn back the clock on Saturday, but his recent shadowboxing video has provided hardcore fans some cause for concern.

That said, we really won’t know what Diaz has left until he steps inside of the Octagon at UFC 266. Lawler is not the same championship-caliber fighter he was just a few years ago, but he’s still a stiff test for anyone. It will be interesting to see how their rematch plays out, especially considering Diaz had the contest changed to a middleweight fight.

Ahead of Diaz’s return UFC has released a compilation of his greatest moments under the Strikeforce banner. From his welterweight title defense over K.J. Noons to his legendary one-round war with Paul Daley, Diaz’s Strikeforce journey is one for the ages. You can check it out above courtesy of UFC.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 266 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Anthony Joshua will be back in action tomorrow (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) live on DAZN from inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, as the British sensation defends his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles against undefeated Ukrainian contender Oleksandr Usyk.

While many boxing enthusiasts would have liked to see Joshua take his chances against the likes of Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder there’s nothing wrong with this matchup with Usyk. The former Olympic gold medalist has all the tools to give Joshua problems and hand him his second professional loss.

Of course, Joshua is aiming to cement himself as the best heavyweight fighter in the world. Since his shocking loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. back in 2019 Joshua has won his last two trips to the ring and hopes to make an example out of Usyk this weekend on home soil. Joshua will enjoy a four-inch reach advantage for this title defense and by all accounts seems to have the better power punching.

Ahead of their main event clash on DAZN both heavyweight fighters came together for one final staredown. Unlike some other recent face offs we’ve seen around boxing Joshua and Usyk were as cordial as possible. That is not an indication of how their matchup will play out this weekend for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles.

The official Joshua vs. Usyk staredown video can be seen below:

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of today’s main event below. The DAZN broadcast (watch it here) kicks off at 1 p.m. ET, with Joshua and Usyk likely making the walk closer to 5 p.m. ET.

One of the biggest cards of the year will unfold tomorrow night (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) as UFC 266 goes down live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The PPV main card will feature two title fights and the return of one of MMA’s biggest stars.

In the main event, reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will defend his 145-pound crown against growing rival and top contender Brian Ortega. The two fighters coached opposite one another on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter and they are ready to finally settle their beef inside of the Octagon. You can check out their main event staredown below:

In co-main event action, current UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will look to push her divisional record to 8-0 when she defends her strap against streaking veteran Lauren Murphy. “Bullet” is a massive favorite to retain her title, but Murphy may be one of the toughest fighters she has faced at 125 pounds. Their co-main event faceoff can be seen below:

Finally, UFC 266’s PPV main card will also feature the long-awaited return of former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. The fan favorite hasn’t competed in well over six years, but he’ll be facing a familiar foe in former UFC champion Robbie Lawler, who Diaz defeated via knockout back in 2004. You can check out Diaz’s staredown with “Ruthless” below:

For complete UFC 266: “Volkanovski vs. Ortega” weigh-in results click here.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 266 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

We are just 24 hours away from UFC 266 tomorrow night (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the promotion is rolling out another memorable ceremonial weigh-in.

For complete UFC 266: “Volkanovski vs. Ortega” weigh-in results click here.

UFC 266 will feature a star-studded PPV card headlined by a featherweight title fight between current champion Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega. The co-main event will pit current UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko against streaking contender Lauren Murphy. Of course, UFC 266 will also feature the return of Nick Diaz as he takes on Robbie Lawler in a five-round middleweight bout.

You can watch the UFC 266 ceremonial weigh-in using the YouTube player above. It is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

While UFC 266’s PPV card will be led by two title fights the biggest attraction is the return of Diaz. The former Strikeforce champion hasn’t competed since Jan. 2015 and has stirred up quite a circus this week. All eyes will be on the Stockton native this weekend.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 266 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

An official inmate report from the Clark County Detention Center has been released in accordance with Friday’s arrest of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Jones, who traveled to Las Vegas this week for an induction into the UFC Hall of Fame, was arrested early Friday morning for alleged battery domestic violence and injuring/tampering with a vehicle. A bail of $8,000 has been set for the former UFC champion, who will appear in front of a judge early Saturday morning following a 12-hour hold.

Jones’ official inmate report can be seen below (via TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter):

This is certainly not the way Jones envisioned his visit to Las Vegas ending. Again, the former champion was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on Thursday alongside Alexander Gustafsson for their title fight back at UFC 165.

Jones, 34, was hoping to make his long-awaited heavyweight debut sometime in 2022. Contract discussions with UFC have gone well over the recent months and it seemed like “Bones” was finally in a good spot to step back inside of the cage in short time. However, the former UFC champion continues to put himself in bad positions outside of the cage and now has to worry about this recent arrest before plotting his heavyweight takeover.

Stick with Mania for more details on Jones’ latest arrest.