LAS VEGAS – Jon Jones has acknowledged that he has a drinking problem, and UFC president Dana White agrees.
Jones was arrested and booked into jail by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department last Friday morning on charges of misdemeanor battery domestic violence and felony tampering with a vehicle.
After disturbing details in the police report, which include leaving his fiancee bloodied following an alleged assault in a hotel room, emerged Tuesday morning, the former light heavyweight champion addressed the situation for the first time, claiming he has “too much trauma to consume alcohol” and that his brain “simply can’t handle it anymore.” Jones vowed to quit drinking, a decision White thinks should have been made a long time ago.
“10 years ago. You’re late,” White told MMA Junkie and other media at the Dana White’s Contender Series 41 post-fight news conference.
White admitted he is concerned every time Jones comes to “Sin City,” but he didn’t think anything would happen with Jones being in town with his fiancee and three kids to be honored at the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony as a fight wing inductee for his UFC 165 classic against Alexander Gustafsson.
“This is what Jon does when he comes to Vegas,” White said. “Jon comes to Vegas and – this is a rough place for him, man. He was here less than 12 hours and, you know, he was in jail. Every time we bring him here, we try to keep him here for as short a time as possible, get him in and get him out. This time he was with his family so we figured – we figured wrong.”
Whether in Las Vegas, New York or his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., Jones has a history of legal troubles, which includes a DWI after crashing his Bentley into a pole, a hit-and-run that left a pregnant woman injured, a traffic stop in which he argued with a police officer after being accused of drag racing, a battery charge for allegedly slapping a waitress at a strip club, and charges of driving under the influence and negligent use of a firearm after shooting a gun in public.
White did not answer directly when asked if he would consider releasing Jones.
“We’ll see how this thing legally plays out, and then we’ll go from there,” he said.