Jon Jones, the oft-embattled Albuquerque resident considered by many to be the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, shocked the combat sports world Saturday when UFC President Dana White
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Jon Jones, the oft-embattled Albuquerque resident considered by many to be the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, shocked the combat sports world Saturday when UFC President Dana White announced the fighter had retired.
But the news didn’t come before one more legal matter arose — one White did not reference in his Saturday afternoon announcement of Jones’ retirement.
The Journal has learned a criminal summons accusing Jones, 37, of a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an accident in February, was filed Tuesday in Metropolitan Court.
Jones has been called to appear for a bond arraignment on July 24 in Metro Court.
A representative of Jones’ sports management agency referred the Journal to an attorney and when reached by the Journal, Chris Dodd, who represented Jones in a past case, said he could not comment.
Jones on Saturday night posted on social media a statement confirming the retirement.
“Today, I’m officially announcing my retirement from the UFC,” Jones posted. “This decision comes after a lot of reflection, and I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for the journey I’ve experienced over the years.”
The criminal complaint stated an Albuquerque Police Officer was investigating a traffic crash near San Mateo and Lomas when she came across a woman in the front passenger seat of one of the cars “exhibiting signs of significant intoxication and lacking clothing from the waist down.”
The woman reportedly said Jones was the driver, but fled the scene on foot. She then called Jones, the complaint stated, and a police service aide spoke to the man on the other end of the call believed to be Jones.
He “appeared to be heavily intoxicated and made statements implying his capacity to employ lethal force through third parties” to the PSA, the court record stated.
The PSA requested backup after what was believed to be a threat, when a police officer then talked to Jones and said similar “allusions to violence” were made.
The man on the phone never answered direct questions about whether he was Jones, the complaint stated.
When interviewed in person a few days after the crash, Jones said the woman found in the car had left his house earlier in the day intoxicated and called him after getting in the crash, at which time Jones said the person she handed the phone to “immediately opened the conversations with unprofessional language, which led him to doubt the legitimacy of the individual’s claim.”
The woman later told police she drank alcohol and consumed mushrooms at Jones’ house and recalled needing to change her clothes at his house and “her next recollection was being at the scene of a traffic accident.” She said the last person she remembered driving her car was Jones, the court record indicated.
Police said Jones called the woman’s phone 13 times from the time of the crash until 11:34 a.m. the following morning and that text messages from his phone were included, though could not be “captured” in call detail records.
The police report indicated the crash happened Feb. 21, but also in one place stated an officer conducted follow-up interviews on Jan. 24.
It’s unclear why the charge against Jones wasn’t filed until months after the incident.
Also, there’s no indication the charge and the decision to retire are connected.
“Jon Jones called us last night and retired,” White said Saturday during a news conference in Azerbaijan. “Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC.”
Jones (28-1 as an MMA fighter with the one loss being a disqualification for a rule that has since been revoked) last fought in November, beating Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight championship in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden that included Donald Trump, Elon Musk and many other members of the then president-elect’s cabinet watching in person.
White and most fans had been calling for Jones to next fight Aspinall, but it’s a contest Jones has never seemed interested in pursuing.
Jones, who lives and trains in Albuquerque, has had several run-ins with the law throughout his storied and highly scrutinized career.
Among them, an arrest and felony charge related to a hit-and-run of a pregnant woman in 2015 in Albuquerque. Jones eventually pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was sentenced to supervised probation.
The Journal has left a message seeking comment from White, though he was traveling back to the United States on Saturday evening.
