After his latest run-in with law enforcement, Jon “Bones” Jones made the wisest decision for his career by hiring a full-time driver to transport him around. Jones’ decision not to drive anymore will improve online MMA betting odds that his legal troubles won’t make him unavailable for the fight.
Jones has been plagued by legal problems since 2012, when he crashed his Bentley into a pole in New York. Jones plead guilty to a DUI after the crash. In 2015, Jones found himself in trouble once again after crashing his car into another vehicle being driven by a pregnant woman.
After the crash, Jones left the scene of the accident and was given 18 months of probation. The crash also resulted in Jones being stripped of his UFC light heavyweight championship and being suspended from the UFC for almost one year.
After returning to the UFC, Jones was given a chance to fight Daniel Cormier for the belt that was taken from him but last month, Jones found himself in legal trouble again after being pulled over by a police officer for drag racing.
After insulting the officer that pulled him over, Jones was given five citations and was arrested for violating the terms of his probation. After spending two days in Jail, Jones was released. The conditions for his release require him to perform 60 hours of community service and attend anger management classes.
Jones must have taken the advice of the people close to him because he finally decided to hire someone to drive him around, reducing the likelihood of him being pulled over for doing something stupid.
Lou Giordano, who serves as Jones’ nutritionist, will be charged with driving Jones around for now. Jones said he decided to hire Giordano as his driver since he is always around him every day. In an interview, Jones said Giordano will drive him to practice every day and prevent him from getting into any more traffic problems with the police.
In addition to his two accidents, Jones has been pulled over in the past for other traffic violations. In January, Jones received citations in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he trains, for driving without a license, driving without a registration, and driving without proof of insurance.
The citations would have convinced most people not to risk driving around in the same town especially if you are famous, but Jones obviously didn’t think it was a big deal until he was pulled over for drag racing last month.
Despite his legal woes, Jones is still scheduled to fight at UFC 197. However, Daniel Cormier had to withdraw from the fight because of an injury that occurred while he was training for the fight. Now, Jones will face Ovince Saint Preux for the interim light heavyweight title, and will meet Cormier to determine the true light heavyweight champion if he wins the fight against Saint Preux.
Greg Jackson, the head trainer at Jackson-Winkeljohn where Jones trains, said Jones made a mistake and said some things that he shouldn’t have when he was pulled over last month, but he is focused on winning his title back from Cormier.