If it were up to Glover Teixeira, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones would be suspended for a year following his latest mishap.
Jones made headlines earlier this month after he was arrested for aggravated DWI among other things in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although he escaped with a relatively light punishment, given his repeat offenses, there have been calls for the UFC to punish him by potentially suspending him and stripping him of the title.
And although Teixeira — who fought Jones for the title in a losing effort back in 2014 — feels for the champion, he believes the UFC ultimately has to do the right thing and not let him off easy.
“Were it up to me, he’d be out for a year,” Teixeira told Ag Fight (via Bloody Elbow). “I have to look at things from my perspective, he’s already the champion, he’s financially stable. If we remove him, the line moves faster. I don’t root against him outside of the Octagon. Jon Jones f*cked up and it’s not the first time, but it’s complicated. I just hope he learns from that and doesn’t f*ck up anymore. It’s annoying. A friend of mine showed me a video of him crying when he got arrested. That made me sad. Who doesn’t make mistakes?”
“I do enjoy a drink, I’ve had a couple of beers and then went out driving before, but I was not hammered like he was. He had a bottle of tequila and a gun with him. he had to rely on his luck. I don’t know if he’s overconfident, but he has done that many times before. It gives an impression he does that all the time. If I f*cked like that, I would be punished, for sure. The UFC has to do the right thing.”
The former light heavyweight title challenger certainly has a point.
Meanwhile, Teixeira is slowly staking a claim for another title shot with the Brazilian veteran currently on a three-fight winning streak following wins over Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba and Nikita Krylov last year.
Do you agree with Teixeira?