Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Women’s Bantamweight champion Miesha Tate considers Jon Jones a friend, and she is sorely disappointed.
Jones, the former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sept. 24 and charged with one count of domestic battery, a misdemeanor, and one count of tampering with a police vehicle, a felony (see the mugshot here). Tate (19-7) knows Jones personally and reacts to his latest legal troubles in a new interview.
“It is so disheartening,” Tate tells MMAMania.com and SB Nation’s Combat Culture. “Jon Jones, we can give him all the compliments for his accolades and he deserves that, but there are just a lot of unforgivable things that he’s done throughout the history of his career. At least in the limelight that we know of. It’s really tough to separate, I think it’s getting more difficult for fans to separate the two. To just be a fan of him as a fighter and not recognize the other things he does as a human being that kind of tarnish that.
“Who should be in charge of Jon Jones? Jon Jones should be in charge of Jon Jones. There’s nobody else that we should be looking at. It’s not his fiancee’s fault, it’s not his parents’ fault at this point. He’s a grown-ass man. He’s a grown-ass man and he needs to be responsible.”
While many are pointing to what actions UFC President Dana White and the company should take against Jones, Tate insists this is a problem only jones can solve.
“I would like to consider myself an acquaintance-slash-friend [of his]. I don’t wish anything ill towards Jon Jones,” she continues. “I know I have pissed him off before with my comments, but if I had any advice for the man, from the bottom of my heart, it would be to stay away from those things that cause you that potential fallout. Whether that be alcohol, whether it be certain kinds of drugs, I don’t know. If it’s an atmosphere [or] if it’s Las Vegas. If you need to walk out of the room when you’re upset and take an hour before you come back and talk to your partner. I don’t know what his Kryptonites are, but I think he has to be strong enough and have the mental fortitude to recognize those and stay the hell away from him. That’s how he’s going to keep himself out of trouble.
“Nobody can do that but him. Dana White cannot get one of those little kiddy leashes and follow him around all day long. It’s not Dana White’s fault. You can’t do that. He has to recognize what his problems are, Kryptonites are and steer clear. I hope he can do that but I won’t be one holding my breath because you can’t even be surprised by it anymore.”
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