The arrest of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones on March 29, 2016 appears to be just the latest in a series of bad vehicular incidents in the life of the pound-for-pound world’s best mixed martial arts fighter. He is currently facing a parole violation, but the charges stemming from his verbal confrontation with the police, which was posted publicly on the internet, may stand to reduce the severity of that charge. Either way, there is little expectation that his upcoming title fight with Daniel Cormier will be affected.

According to Jones, he was was pulled over by local police after peeling away from a stop light on March 24th after showing off for some fans who had pulled up next to him. After being pulled over, Jones and the officer engaged in a back-and-forth verbal dispute when the officer accused Jones of drag racing and Jones retorted back with an expletive. As a result, he was charged by the officer with having an unclear license plate, being unable to maintain a traffic lane, breaking an ordinance regarding modified exhaust for revving his engine, drag racing and exhibition driving. The latter two charges are the most dangerous as they are the ones that can lead to a violation of his parole agreement from the 2015 hit and run incident if a judge so declares it. Jones had just cleared up a January ticket of driving without proof of insurance or a license and was told to stay out of trouble for 90 days and the ticket would be cleared (since he produced evidence that he possessed the documentation, just not at the time of arrest). He’s been in jail since the 29th and will have a bond hearing on the 31st where he will have the opportunity to explain his side of the story.

The arrest of New York State Assemblyman Sheldon Silver in 2015 on corruption charges sent shockwaves through the political scene of the Empire State. But in-the-know fans of Mixed Martial Arts secretly rejoiced, knowing that with his arrest (and subsequent conviction), the state’s ban of MMA would finally come to an end.

By the time this article sees print, New York State will be the last of the 50 states to officially vote to legalize MMA. This will allow for Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White to realize one of his dreams, a UFC Pay Per View being held at the Mecca of sports venues, Madison Square Garden. The path to legalization was literally a loop-de-loop of sorts, as New York was the first states to actually ALLOW what would become mixed martial arts under the auspices of the New York State Athletic Commission.

In 1996, after three years of holding events under a perceived “no holds barred” atmosphere, UFC owners SEG had made an agreement with the NYSAC that allowed their style of competition to be regulated by the state. As a result, UFC would hold their next event, UFC 12, in Niagara Falls, NY near the Canadian border (and far from New York City and the press mob that comes with it) to present their first ever show featuring 2 weight classes in an attempt to appear more as a sport than spectacle. The talks were somewhat clandestine, as NY politicians could not drum up support for a full on ban, and agreed to regulation. A successful, low key event held away from the city could pave the way for future events in bigger towns and, as UFC saw it, would give them the time to legitimize their events away from the aura of being a “bloodsport”. Then along came a rival organization, EFC, who used the legislation opening to immediately book an event in Manhattan with the promotional line “‘Extreme Fighting — Whatever It Takes to Win’ – The roughest, toughest, most brutal fighting event in the history of television.” That was all the bait the New York press needed. Despite the warring promoters using the language of sport to describe their events, the New York Times article’s first paragraph was blistering, still referring to the competition as “human cockfighting”. Embarrassed and enraged, the New York politicians, who admittedly could not immediately ban the events (despite the efforts of NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani) instead forced the UFC show to a huge new set of rules, including the use of headgear. A court fight ensued, but with a ruling going against UFC the day before the show, UFC had no choice but to relocate the event to Dohan, Alabama with less than 24 hours notice. A bill banning extreme fighting was soon signed, preventing any form of professional combat sport in the state for nearly 20 years.

A few weeks ago, I detailed how just one injury to a UFC fighter could have negatively affected the whole balance of two of UFC’s biggest shows of 2016. How fortunate for them that an injury did occur, but instead it brought more positive fortune for the company. UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos suffered a broken foot in training for his UFC 196 title bout with Connor McGregor, requiring him to take 4-6 weeks off. As it stands, the bout has been pushed back and will most likely occur as the main event of UFC 200 in July, giving the company the big storyline they were looking for to headline the show: their hottest star’s quest to become a champion in 2 different weight classes.

But meanwhile, there are about 10,000 cavorting Irishmen (and women) who have hotel rooms and flights booked for Las Vegas for March 5th, and they demand a show. In order to protect the McGregor gravy train, and to ensure that there are no requests for refunds, a call went out to any contender in a 25 lb range and they found someone with enough fight and enough mouth to make it work. Nate Diaz will be McGregor’s next opponent and the recipient of a McGregor “Red Panty Night”. What’s intriguing about the fight is that it will be held at Welterweight (170lbs) as opposed to either of the weights McGregor has previously competed at (145 & 155 lbs). This covers all angles of risk for UFC, as it ensures a big buy rate for the show with a tough, trash talking opponent while it protects McGregor, in the event of a loss, from being derailed on championship quests for either title. There is risk for McGregor as to this date he hasn’t faced anyone with Diaz’ chin, long reach and jab, but Diaz also comes in on a 2-week camp. A loss for McGregor at a weight class where he has no intent on pursuing the title only puts the blemish on his current 15 fight win streak (7 of those since joining UFC). Were Diaz to lose, he’ll certainly mouth off about not having a full camp and will insert himself in line for a title shot should McGregor accomplish his goal of winning the Lightweight title.