Jon Jones is arguably the best light heavyweight in UFC history. But over the years he has made numerous mistakes resulting in some controversy surrounding him.
On December 5, 2009, in his bout with Matt Hamill, Jones was disqualified for using illegal elbows. However, despite instant replay being used to make the decision, Dana White still claimed that the loss should not have counted and should have been a no contest.
In the early morning of May 19, 2012, Jones drove his Bentley Continental GT into a pole in Binghamton, New York. Jones was arrested for driving under the influence and was bailed out several hours later by his mother. He pleaded guilty to drink driving and ended up paying a $1,000 fine, installing ignition interlocks on all of his vehicles, had to complete a victims impact class, and had his drivers license suspended for six months.
Jones’ Bentley after the incident.
UFC 151, scheduled to premiere on September 1, 2012, was cancelled due to Jones declining to fight Chael Sonnen, a last-minute replacement for Dan Henderson. In the 19-year history of the UFC, it was the first card to ever be cancelled. UFC president Dana White went on record saying, “this is one of the most selfish, disgusting decisions that doesn’t just affect you. This is affecting 16 other lives, their families, kids are going back to school. The list goes on and on of all the things, the money that was spent for fighters to train and the list goes on and on. Like I said, I don’t think this is going to make Jon Jones popular with the fans, sponsors, cable distributors, television network executives or other fighters.”
Jones has been criticised for repeatedly poking his opponents in the eyes. In response to the criticism, Jones released a video over Instagram, in which he mocked fans by simulating crying, which has since been deleted. Dana White then stated, “we’ve got to stop that stuff. The openings of the hands and putting the hands on the face are something bad, but it happens with guys who have reach. They do that a lot.” White later clarified his point, saying, “It’s not just taller fighters. Jones has that range and he can do it, but lots of guys do it because that’s how you block punches. So you keep your hands open and you slap punches down. Then guys are rushing in and you’re doing whatever, and guys get poked in the eyes.” Jones later responded to the controversy in an interview, saying, “I realise that I do it. I realize the criticism that I got from it. It’s not on purpose. If you watch my fights, it’s me extending my arm in a reactionary way. I do put a hand on people’s foreheads to maintain distance. That’s what you saw against Teixeira, but to say I am purposely poking people in the eye, it’s just inaccurate.”
On April 14, 2014, Jones was accused of writing homophobic slurs to a Swedish man over Instagram. In response, Jones stated that his phone was stolen and his account was hacked.
On January 6, 2015, it was announced that Jones failed a drug test prior to UFC 182. He tested positive for benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite of cocaine. Because benzoylecgonine is not banned out-of-competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the NSAC could not halt Jones from participating during UFC 182. He was randomly tested on December 3, 2014, and results came back on December 23, 2014. A week after his first test, Jones was tested again. He passed the second test, which meant that the cocaine metabolite was out of his system before the fight. When the news was made public, Jones went into rehab for one night. He was fined $25,000 on January 17 for violating the UFC’s Athlete Code of Conduct policy.
On January 19, 2015, Jones was interviewed for the first time since the failed drug test and said:
“I’m not a cocaine addict by any means or not even a frequent user. I just made a really dumb decision and got caught with my pants down in this whole situation.”
Cocaine isn’t the only drug Jon has been caught doing, though. Between 2016 and 2017 Jones used “hormonal and metabolic modulators”, and anabolic steroids, which resulted in bouts being cancelled and Jon being suspended. Jones became eligible to fight again as of October 28, 2018, and was scheduled to perform at UFC 232 in Las Vegas on December 29. However, after further inconsistencies arose with his drug test on December 23, he was not granted a license to compete in Nevada, and the event was moved to Los Angeles.
