Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jon Jones — currently suspended by his employer — appeared in Second Judicial District Court earlier today (Tues., Sept. 29, 2015) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to answer for last April’s felony hit-and-run.
“Bones” avoided a grand jury by cutting a deal with prosecutors.
As a result, Jones plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, a fourth-degree felony — conditionally discharged — and was subsequently sentenced to supervised probation (up to 18 months) by judge Charles Brown, who told the defendant “he got real lucky.”
Lucky as in “no jail time.”
Travel has been authorized for work-related purposes, like combat sports events in Las Vegas, Nevada, and assuming Jones can meet all of his conditions, which include 72 separate appearances for charity or youth outreach, he will avoid a felony charge on his record.
Those firearms, however, will have to go.
The former pound-for-pound great, who was already on shaky legs in terms of his public image, smacked up his rental car earlier this year when it plowed into a pregnant woman, sending her to the hospital. Jones later turned himself in and was booked at Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.
The good news is, no one was seriously hurt and a bad situation could have been much, much worse.
While the Jones drama was unfolding, UFC put the ex-champ’s title up for grabs at UFC 187. Daniel Cormier was able to capture the crown after slugging it out with Anthony Johnson, and “DC” now moves on to defend “his” strap at the UFC 192 pay-per-view (PPV) event this weekend in Houston, Texas.
For more on that fight click here.
As for “Bones,” there is no telling if or when the promotion will reinstate him, but this certainly has to be considered a step in that direction. UFC President Dana White was in Albuquerque today to support his embattled fighter and will no doubt have more to say at one or more of this week’s UFC 192 press conferences.
Stay tuned.
View full post on MMAmania.com – All Posts