Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was arrested on Friday morning and charged with battery domestic violence along with injuring or tampering with a vehicle, according to Clark County records.
ESPN first broke the news on Friday. Jones’ representative, Richard Schaefer, declined to comment on the matter, saying on that “the facts are still developing, we really don’t know yet the full story so I’m not going to make any comment until I have a chance to talk to Jon and until we see see how this plays out.”
Jones, 34, was arrested just hours after his UFC 165 bout with Alexander Gustaffson was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Jones appeared at the induction ceremony Thursday evening, speaking to reporters about a planned move to heavyweight that the ex-champ indicated should take place sometime in the second quarter of 2022.
But once again, Jones’ personal and legal troubles have seen him go from the top of the sport to rock bottom in a heartbeat.
Jones’ bail was set at $8,000, split between the domestic violence charge ($5,000) and tampering with a vehicle ($3,000).
Run-ins with the law have become a common occurrence with the man many consider the greatest light heavyweight fighter of all time. In March of 2020, Jones was hit with a DUI, as well as negligent use of a firearm and other charges, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He later accepted a plea deal that saw the bulk of the charges dropped.
In 2019, a waitress at a New Mexico strip club accused Jones of forcibly kissing her, slapping her, and other transgressions. Jones was hit with a battery charge that also resulted in a plea deal.
In 2015, Jones was involved in a hit-and-run incident that saw him stripped of the UFC’s light heavyweight championship. In total, between drug test failures and legal troubles, Jones has been stripped of UFC titles on three separate occasions.
And in 2012, Jones was arrested on suspicion of DUI after crashing his Bentley.
Jones (26-1, 1NC) has not fought since since a February 2020 split decision win over Dominick Reyes. He later vacated the light heavyweight title and announced a move to heavyweight, but has also butted heads with the UFC over compensation.
