UFC boss: Ex-champ Jon Jones will get immediate title shot if he comes back

Jon Jones

Now-former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones won’t have to work his way back to a title if and when he returns to the promotion’s octagon.

UFC President Dana White on Wednesday told The Jim Rome Show that Jones, who was stripped of the belt following his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run incident, will get an immediate title shot.

“He hasn’t had the time Anderson Silva’s had, but he’s the most dominant champion,” White said. “If you look at the murderer’s row of the 205-pound division that he went through, and he just went through it like a hot knife through butter, I mean he’s the man.

“Whenever he gets his stuff together, he can come right back and fight for the title.”

Jones is still dealing with the fallout from the accident this past month in Albuquerque, N.M., where he relocated earlier this year to focus on his training. Police say he ran a red light in a rental car and hit a pregnant woman, who suffered a broken arm. He then fled the scene before returning to pocket some cash.

Investigating officers found paperwork in Jones’ rental car that showed it was rented by his wife, as well as MMA memorabilia and a marijuana pipe. He faces up to three years in prison and fines for felony leaving the scene of an accident involving injuries.

A rep from the Bernalillo County (N.M.) District Attorney’s office on Wednesday told MMAjunkie that evidence on Jones’ case is still being collected from the police department. When all the evidence is gathered, prosecutors will then decide if they will to bring the case to a grand jury, which in turn would decide whether or not to indict Jones.

Jones (21-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC), 27, recently returned to the gym to train, according to his longtime teammate, UFC lightweight Donald Cerrone, who sympathized with the now-former champ:

On a recent media teleconference, light heavyweights Anthony Johnson (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and Daniel Cormier (15-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who meet in Saturday’s UFC 187 pay-per-view headliner to determine the division’s new champ, speculated  that Jones’ next career move would be decided by the length of his layoff from the sport.

“Any time you hold a division (title) as long as Jon has, when he comes back, he should get a title shot immediately,” Cormier said. “I think it does depend on the time. If he’s gone for a really long time, is he really going to want to fight for the belt right away, or is he going to want to fight first? I think you leave it up to him.”

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