May - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
34
JON JONES SCANDAL:
DID THE UFC GET IT RIGHT?
Article By: RJ Gardner
It’s has been a wild couple of
day in the world of MMA and
now the UFC has effectively
dropped the hammer on Jon
Jones. On Tuesday evening,
the UFC announced the Jones
was suspended indefinitely
and stripped of his light heavy-
weight title as a result of his
recent arrest in Albuquerque,
N.M., for felony hit-and-run.
The UFC’s response was swift
and harsh and it was absolutely
the right thing to do. The orga-
nization had already dropped
the discipline ball with Jones a
couple of times recently. First,
when they gave him a slap
on the wrist fine for a positive
drug test for cocaine metabo-
lites, then again, when they did
not intervene when Jones en-
tered and exited rehab in just
24 hours.
The UFC’s integrity was at stake
here with Jones and they sent a
firm message to him and every-
one else. Now hopefully Jones
can get the help he obviously
needs at this point and get his
life back in order. At just 27,
Jones is still a young man with
a lot of good years left, but he
needs to get his life right.
There will be some fans andme-
dia pundits out there who will
say that the UFC acted hastily
in this situation, but that simply
isn’t the case. While we do live
in a society where you are in-
nocent until proven guilty, that
is only true in a court of law.
The court of public opinion is
an entirely different matter, but
people don’t see to grasp that
concept.
If you are against the Jones’
punishment, then let me put it
into real world terms for you.
Let’s say Tom is a Director of
Sales for a local business and
he was arrested for fleeing the
scene of an injury accident on
foot. Let’s also say that witness-
es reported the Tom returned
to the scene not to check on
the other parties involved, but
instead to grab something
from the vehicle before flee-
ing once more. When the ini-
tial report is released it states
that marijuana and a pipe were
found in the vehicle.
What do you think happens
to Tom as far as his job in con-
cerned?
That’s right; Tom is either sus-
pended without pay or fired
outright. Why? Because of
the negative image Tom has
brought to the company. Even
though legally Tom is innocent
until proven guilty, the way his
actions are perceived will have
consequences. It might not be
fair, but that’s what happens in
the real world.
When you make a mistake
there are consequences for
your actions. The UFC failed
to properly address Jones’ is-
sues earlier and now they were
forced to make a real state-
ment with this punishment.
They should be applauded for
it to because ultimately this
will be a wake up call for Jones
and he will come back stronger
than ever.
Photo Courtesy of Albuquer-
que Police Department
