Jon Jones has had a roller coaster ride of a week.
On Saturday night at Denver’s UFC 135 main event, Jones crushed Quinton Jackson to retain the light heavyweight championship. On Tuesday, Colorado regulatory officials medically suspended him for six months, although the length can be shortened to 45 days.
It’s the same amount of time Aaron Riley got for withdrawing from his fight with Tony Ferguson after claiming he had a broken jaw after the first round. Even crazier, it was much longer than the 60 days Jackson got, who clearly got the worst of Saturday’s bout.
All things considered, it’s really not a big deal according to Chad Dundas of ESPN.com:
Before this and reports that Jon Jones may have injured his foot—supported by accounts that he had to be helped to and from the post-fight news conference—elicit an audible groan from both fight fans and the camp of Rashad Evans, it should be noted that these suspensions are sometimes purely precautionary. If Jones can get the go-ahead from his physician, he can be back to training soon enough, likely in time to make, say, a potential Super Bowl weekend show against Evans.
All he needs is a doctor’s note to reduce the suspension as the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies’ Office of Boxing is just being cautious. The last thing they want is for him to rush back only to suffer a far greater injury with the department catching the blame.
The limp was quite noticeable in the post-fight press conference, but clearly it wasn’t a factor during the bout.
Jones was likely going to sit on the huge win for a while anyways. He’s the champ and needs to make sure everyone knows as much. Enjoy the belt for the next six months and make sure your ankle is completely healthy before putting the belt on the line.
There is no reason for Jones to rush back into the ring.
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