Jon Jones Stripped Of UFC Title And Suspended Indefinitely

After reports on Jon Jones‘ hit-and-run incident, the UFC has announced that they are stripping the heavyweight champion of his title and suspending him indefinitely.

The decision was made following Jones turning himself in and posting bail. Immediately after leaving jail, the former UFC heavyweight champion met with Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta to tell his side of the story.

Afterwards, there was enough information to suspend and strip Jones, the youngest to ever win a UFC championship belt, of his title.

“As a result of the charge and other violations of the Athlete Code of Conduct Policy, the organization believes it is best to allow Jones time to focus on his pending legal matters,” the UFC stated in a press release. “UFC feels strongly that its athletes must uphold certain standards both in and out of the Octagon. While there is disappointment in the recent charges, the organization remains supportive of Jones as he works through the legal process.”

On top of this, Dana White appeared on Tuesday night’s Fox Sports Live to make the announcement.

“Obviously, he’s got to handle his legal proceedings,” White said on Fox Sports Live. “His lawyer didn’t have him say much. What we wanted to find out is what the facts were. There’s a lot of things that are being said out there about what happened that day — a lot of them are untrue, a lot of them are speculation — and we wanted to hear Jon’s side of the story.”

“He’s very disappointed. He’s upset. He wanted to go down as one of the greats or the greatest,” Dana White continued. “He’s disappointed, but it is what it is. It is the decision we had to make.

As a result, Jon Jones has been removed from the UFC 187 title bout, but Anthony Johnson will continue to get a shot at the vacated belt.

“I can say that I’m kind of disappointed with the mistake Jon made, but he is human,” Johnson said when asked about the suspension. “I definitely wanted to fight him for the title. He’s the best. Everybody wants to fight the best, if you’re in this sport for the right reasons.”

White also announced yesterday that Daniel Cormier will fight Johnson for the heavyweight championship. At the beginning of the year, Cormier lost to Jones during UFC 182.

Since his arrest, Jones has released a single tweet reacting to the events of the last few days, but has not said anything else.

On top of losing the title and being suspended, Reebok has dropped the athlete’s endorsement deal.