It is time to have a very real and difficult conversation about Jon Jones the fighter and person. We need to start treating them as one and the same because with Jon the fighter we don’t know Jon the person because if he was anyone else in the world he would be behind cell doors and we would just see him as another lost soul of society.
Instead, we know Jon Jones the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of MMA so we tend to forgive and forget time and time again. That time though is dead and gone and it is time we treat Jon Jones as we do others in his situation because until he is taken off his pedestal things will never change.
What’s the Difference between these Two Men?
Serena DeJesus put out a tweet today on the MMA Fighting post about the details surrounding Jon Jones’ arrest this weekend and she has an excellent point.
Soooo we about to have the same energy towards him that we do about Greg Hardy or what? https://t.co/RfVer19iOF
— Serena DeJesus (@SerenaSouthpaw) September 28, 2021
She has an excellent point, the energy we all give to Greg Hardy needs to be given to Jon Jones as well at this point. The UFC announced today that Hardy will be facing Alexy Oleynik and that fight was met with the reaction of “we saw him get knocked out, now we see him choked out” in regards to Greg Hardy.
Everyone, professional media, and fans alike, all get excited to see Greg Hardy’s demise when he fights so as DeJesus puts it, what’s the reaction going to be when Jones finally makes his heavyweight debut?
A big thing for Greg Hardy that has him in such a damning situation is the details surrounding the original arrest that got him in hot water with the NFL and wore out his welcome in the league. Now with Jon Jones, we have an equally graphic situation that may change public perception for once.
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A Hall of Fame Night Turned Bad
The arrest that has impassioned everyone on social media to call for the reckoning of one Jon Jones is that from this past weekend on Hall of Fame night for the UFC during international fight week.
Details were first reported by ESPN’s Marc Raimondi and since then TMZ Sports have gathered more details, combined it seems the events of the night unfolded as follows:
– Las Vegas Metro PD were called to the Caesars Palace Hotel around 5:08 AM for a “domestic disturbance”
– The female involved was “bleeding from her nose/mouth”
– The male involved was a “professional MMA fighter”
– As police approached the hotel they noticed Jon Jones walking outside and they approached him and quickly detained him
– Jones became “irate and smashed his head off the hood of LVMPD patrol vehicle”
– He had a wide range of emotions even at one point threatening to sue the police for ruining the biggest night of his career
– Police get to the hotel room where Moses admits Jones pulled her hair but didn’t hit her but was a “little physical”
Those are the details that are pretty well known at this point including Jones faking out running from the police as well as seeing if they all wanted to fight him as well.
Where things take a turn down a disturbing road is where the details surrounding his Fiances injuries come to light. His fiance Jessie Moses went down to the hotel lobby to ask for an extra room key when a security guard noticed blood and asked if she was okay at which point she indicated she was afraid to go back to her room. One of their younger children was with her and asked the security guard if he could “call the police” and with that, we are up to date sadly.
The Question Remains, What Can Anyone Possibly Do?
Whether Dana White wants to be in the situation or not, he needs to finally take some action.
The UFC has been without Jon Jones for 19 months and in that time frame they overcame obstacles presented by COVID-19, stars retiring, stars losing, and much more, still remaining financially viable and that is all in Jones’ absence. They don’t need Jones but rather Jones needs the UFC and if Dana White would for once show that he cares for a fighter in a truly meaningful way he would do best to cut Jon Jones.
Would Jones go elsewhere? Maybe. Maybe not though, he would be offered a ton of money but for him to go from a Hall of Fame night to being cut may just be a shock to the system he needs and more importantly his family. Jones would know his legacy would be tainted fighting anywhere other than the UFC and maybe they leave the window open for him to come back but for the time being he needs a reality check in the form of losing a check.
Jones posted to Instagram that he was ready to overcome the devil’s power in alcohol and a good place to overcome that if he believes it is in a rehab facility, not a gym like where he was in the post. If Dana White would take time away from making fun of one addict in Oscar De La Hoya and help the one he has under contract he may just save a career and more importantly a life in the same process.
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