Jon Jones will be released from jail today, and will be clear to fight at UFC 197.
The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion appeared before Judge Michael E. Martinez on Thursday morning in New Mexico for a hearing regarding a probation violation over his traffic stop for alleged “drag racing” last week. As reported on Wednesday night, the DA recommended Jones receive curfew, anger management, and a driving education tacked on to his current probationary restrictions, but the judge didn’t grant all of those terms.
Jones will retain his license, and will not be held under a curfew. His attorney called the “drag racing” stop “bogus” during the hearing, claiming Jones was racially profiled by the officer. They vowed to fight the traffic ticket in court at a later date.
However, he will indeed need to complete an anger management course as well as the recommended driver improvement course, he’ll need to add another 60 hours of community service over the next 90 days, and he’ll need his probation officer’s permission to drive as well. Those were the terms added into his probation with the DA arguing that Jones was “starting to fail at probation,” and will be what Jones must abide by to finish out that term on his hit and run from April 2015.
Jones has another year left on the 18 months of probation handed down to him last fall, and Judge Martinez told him during the hearing that things won’t go well for him should he appear in that court again before the end of that term.
With the new terms in place for what’s left of his probation, and his release imminent, Jones can return to training for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout against Daniel Cormier next month in Las Vegas.
Penick’s Analysis: This week has been one hell of a distraction for Jones, and it can’t have been good for his preparation into UFC 197. With that said, he’s still got two more weeks of training before fight week and all of the media obligations that come with that, so there’s time to put this week past him, get his mind back into fight mode, and make his return. He’s still got to prove himself in the cage again after all that’s happened, and hopefully he can avoid any further violations during his probationary term.
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