After suspension and losing title, ex-UFC champ Jon Jones tweets apology

Jon Jones

Jon Jones, now a former UFC light-heavyweight champion, issued a simple apology after UFC officials stripped him of the title and suspended him.

Following an arrest due to his alleged involvement in a Sunday hit-and-run accident that left a pregnant woman with a broken arm, Jones was stripped of the belt and suspended indefinitely on Tuesday “as a result of violations of the organization’s Athlete Code of Conduct Policy.”

Jones broke his silence and tweeted an apology soon after:

Jones, who’s had a number of indiscretions over the years, is now without the UFC 205-pound title for the first time since 2011. The 27-year-old claimed it with a victory over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 and made a divisional-record eight consecutive title defenses while emerging as the top-ranked fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA pound-for-pound rankings.

Now forced out of next month’s UFC 187 headliner and sent to the sidelines indefinitely, Jones will turn his attention to his latest legal woes. He faces a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving death or personal injury, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail and fines.

With Jones’ belt now vacant, recent title challenger Daniel Cormier (15-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who suffered a decision loss to Jones earlier this year after an intense pre-fight buildup, has stepped in to fight Anthony Johnson (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in UFC 187’s new pay-per-view main event on May 23 in Las Vegas.

For more on UFC 187, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.