Jon Jones is free to go home with stipulations added to his probation.
The UFC star admitted to a probation violation at his hearing in New Mexico Second Judicial District Court on Thursday and had new provisions added to his existing probation. Jones agreed to attend anger management and driver improvement courses as well as do 60 more hours of community service within three months.
Judge Michael E. Martinez added that Jones must get approval from his probation officer every time he wants to drive. Martinez told Jones at the conclusion of the hearing that if he is back in that court before the end of his probation, "it won't go well" for him.
The Bernalillo County District Attorney's office wanted the judge to impose a nightly curfew on Jones from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., but Martinez declined that provision. That was the only added condition of probation that Jones' team fought.
Thursday's news should put Jones in the clear for his light heavyweight title fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 197 on April 23 in Las Vegas. Jones had been in custody at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center since Tuesday morning.
(Video courtesy of KOB.com)
Jones, 28, was pulled over and given five traffic tickets March 24, including one for drag racing. Jones vehemently denied any wrongdoing in that incident and his attorney Nancy Hollander said Thursday that Jones would be fighting those tickets. Jones' hearing date for those tickets is April 5.
In addition to the drag-racing ticket, Jones was cited for exhibition driving, use of modification of exhaust systems, not maintaining traffic lanes and the improper display of a registration plate.
An emotional Jones could be heard on the body camera of Albuquerque Police Department officer Jason Brown during the traffic stop saying that he was not drag racing, but merely revving his engine at a stoplight to acknowledge fans. Jones called Brown a "f*cking liar," "despicable" and a "pig." The emotional display likely led to the District Attorney asking for an anger management course.
Traffic tickets normally wouldn't lead to an arrest, but Jones was in the sixth month of an 18-month probation term.
Jones was charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident involving death or serious bodily harm following an April 2015 incident in which the vehicle he was driving struck a car driven by a pregnant woman. Jones fled the scene; the woman ended up with a broken arm as a result of the collision.
In September, Jones was granted a conditional discharge in the case after pleading guilty. The terms of the conditional discharge included an 18-month probation period and 72 appearances of community service. If Jones completed those, the felony would be wiped away.
Hollander said Thursday that Jones had already completed 76 appearances of community service.
Jones was cited three times in January for traffic violations, including driving without a license, registration and proof of insurance. He was cleared by a judge for those offenses, but had 24 hours of community service added by the New Mexico Corrections Department, because it took him eight days to inform his probation officer that he had contact with police. Probation officers are supposed to be informed of such incidents within 48 hours.
Jones was arrested and charged for suspicion of DUI in 2012. In January 2015, he tested positive for cocaine metabolites in a drug test conducted by the Nevada Athletic Commission, even though the sample was taken out of competition and should not have been tested for recreational drugs.
"Bones" became the youngest champion in UFC history when he beat Mauricio Rua in 2011 to win the light heavyweight title. He held the belt until it was stripped by the UFC following the felony hit-and-run arrest. Jones (21-1) is still regarded as the best pound for-pound fighter in the world and has never truly lost a pro MMA fight.
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