Chael Sonnen has explained why Jon Jones and Luis Pena received vastly different treatment from the UFC following their recent arrests for domestic violence.
Pena was cut by the UFC after being accused of striking two women. According to the police report, ‘Violent Bob Ross’ was beating up his girlfriend when a passer-by intervened. Pena then struck the good Samaritan and was subsequently charged with misdemeanor domestic violence and simple battery.
A couple of weeks before that, Jones was in Las Vegas to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. After what he called the biggest night of his life Jones got drunk and ended up in an altercation with the mother of his children. The former light-heavyweight champion claims he never hit his fiancée, Jessie Moses, but the police report states that Moses approached hotel security at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas asking for a replacement key card. The hotel security guards told police that Moses had blood on her face and clothing. It also says that Jones’ own children asked hotel security to call the police on their father. Jones has since denied hitting his partner.
Some will say Pena suffered a more severe punishment because he is a lesser-known fighter who will not really be missed by the UFC. Whereas Jones is one of the biggest stars in the sport and therefore got preferential treatment.
However, Sonnen doesn’t believe that is the case. The former middleweight and light-heavyweight title challenger believes more attention should be paid to the specific cases. He says Pena was actually accused of attacking someone, while no one has categorically accused Jones of hitting his fiancée.
Chael Sonnen: Jon Jones Has Never Been Accused
“If we’re to be fair, Jon has never even been accused of that domestic dispute. Jon said it was the worst incident of his life, and he called it a confrontation. But it’s very relevant because as you’re juxtaposing these three [cases] – Luis Pena being the third – Luis Pena was charged. There was a police report. I understand due process. I understand innocent until proven guilty. But Luis Pena was swiftly released [from the UFC]. It is not apples to apples,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.
Sonnen likened Jones’ case to a recent domestic incident that led to Chuck Liddell being arrested before he was quickly cleared of any wrongdoing.
“If we wanna take that same fairness over to Jon Jones, if you’re telling the Jones story correctly – it means you’re not putting emotion, you’re not putting your opinion in it,” Sonnen said. “You can’t even take what you have that circumstantially could drive you to the conclusion. But you can’t do that because you have to start with, was he even accused. I have to remind you – the answer is no. Jon was not accused. Nobody said that.” (Transcribed by Sportskeeda)
Do you agree with Chael Sonnen’s take on the Jon Jones situation?