Jon Jones Biggest Threat To Success Is Himself

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.

While Jones more than likely will be exonerated here, the question does have to be asked: Why does Jones continue to find himself in these moments? He’s installed ignition interlocks on his personal vehicles after a DUI charge, but still got into a hit and run in a rental car. Had he stayed at the scene, he may have only faced a misdemeanor. His fleeing the scene became the impetus for the felony charge and his losing of the UFC title. He dodged a major bullet when it was revealed cocaine was found in his system before his first fight with Daniel Cormier because cocaine wasn’t banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He’s engaged in silly social media tiffs and a real brawl with Cormier at a press conference that cost him (and Cormier) money. For certain athletes, this string of incidents may have a few extra curious eyes pay attention to their fights. For someone who literally may be the best fighter in the world, it adds to the list of distractions and does little to endear the public towards him despite his well-deserved accolades in the Octagon.
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With the April 23rd fight looming, Jones is the favorite to regain the title that he did not lose in the Octagon. Due to these events, he’s less likely to regain what had brought in more zeros to his checkbook: His personal sponsorship deal with Reebok. The incidents remind me somewhat of Mike Tyson, a once-in-a-generation talent who never received (or followed) good advice when it really mattered most. By now, if I’m his manager or advisor, I’d force him to be driven everywhere, at least until October, when his probation ends. While I expect Jones to once again be UFC Light-Heavyweight champion after April 23, how long he will retain that title will strictly be up to him.