UFC Strips Jon Jones Of UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, Suspends Him Indefinitely

MMA Superstar Jon Jones has been one of the top stars in UFC for the last few years. The one thing that made Jones special was that he could bring an incredible reach to the table that very few could match. On top of this, he was unique and seemed to be able to bend but never break when facing off with people who should have beaten him. Jones might be one of the greatest fighters in the octagon, but he faces a new fight outside of it.

According to ESPN, the UFC has decided to strip Jon Jones of his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship immediately. He will also be suspended indefinitely.

Currently, Jones faces a felony charge for a hit-and-run that happened over the weekend. It was rumored that drugs were involved where Jones was impaired driving. Another rumor claimed that cocaine was found at the scene. Neither have been confirmed as of yet. He found himself in custody on Monday and was able to post a $2,500 bail, which carried over into Tuesday where he didn’t have to pay anymore money after seeing a judge in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Jon Jones did not enter a plea, which means he is attempting to fight the charges against him currently.

While he did face a judge on Tuesday regarding the incident, the charges for Jones are not known yet as they will be made at another date if there are any handed down. The judge allowed for Jones to leave the country, due to a fight he had in late May with Anthony Johnson for his UFC Title. Of course, this will no longer happen. Daniel Cormier will replace Jon Jones in that fight, which will still be for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title as of now.

This is not Jones’ first issue even this year. He tested positive for cocaine during a drug test done back in December of 2014, which took place before his fight with Cormier in January of this year. UFC claims that they are stripping Jones and suspending him to give him time to work out legal issues. Obviously, this is more so UFC trying to save themselves from an issue down the line with Jones.

The hit-and-run, while an investigation is still ongoing, could very well put Jones in prison. If drugs were found at the scene or if he was impaired, he could certainly see jail time from it.

Jones responded to the UFC fans via Twitter, telling them,

“Got a lot of soul searching to do. Sorry to everyone I’ve let down.”

Many wonder why Jon Jones would even consider hitting someone and not stopping. If the rumors of drugs being involved are true, it would explain a lot. However, this is not yet known, so as of now we can only “suspect” it being the root cause of the problem. The only charge Jones is facing is a hit-and-run. While more could be added, that is all as of now.

[IMG Credit: MMAFighting.com, UFC.com]