Since Summer of last year, we have watched this whole Jon Jones controversy unfold like some sort of O.J. Simpson court case. We all know every detail by now. After his finish of Daniel Cormier at UFC 214, it was all anyone could talk about it. Through all the samples, the passed lie detector test, we’ve all been plugged in. Teammates and even the UFC’s Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance, Jeff Novitsky weighed-in on what he thought of the whole situation. However, it’s all been just talk leading up to now, or more importantly, February 27th.
First reported by Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting as per the California State Athletic Commission agenda, former two-time UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will appear before the commission for them to decide what will be the severity of his fine and suspension. What follows will be his case to prove his innocence, which may last until the end of March.
There are tons of different consequences that could follow after this hearing, but Jon Jones’ manager Malki Kawa believes there is a 95-percent shot that Jones fights in 2018. If there isn’t a long delay, then Jon Jones coming back would once again make things even more interesting at light heavyweight, especially Daniel Cormier’s superfight with Stipe Miocic. Cormier has stated he’d come back to his division to give Alexander Gustafsson his rematch, but could Cormier really finish out the trilogy with his arch nemesis before he walks away from the sport before March 2019? No doubt the UFC would probably book it.
The other path is Jon Jones comes back in the heavyweight division to follow the path he laid out before Cormier was able to step into his place. Dana White has also said he thinks the chances are good that Brock Lesnar comes back this year as well. You slap Jones versus Lesnar on any card and it breaks the bank. But we’re once again getting ahead of ourselves, let’s just wait until this hearing before we start writing our fan fiction.
Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records. -William Arthur Ward
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) February 13, 2018
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/14/2018.