Jon Jones Reveals He Received Multiple Citations During Recent Traffic Stop

Former UFC champion Jon Jones spoke to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com on The MMA Hour (via Jeremy Botter of FloSports) on March 28 and revealed that he was pulled over by police several days ago, cited for drag racing and issued five separate tickets.

Jones told Helwani that none of the tickets was for speeding (via Geoff Grammer of the Albuquerque Journal).

The Albuquerque Police Department confirmed Jones' comments, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN, and said Jones was driving a white Corvette when he was cited on March 24.

"I'm going to fight it," Jones, 28, said of the tickets to Helwani (via Eric Jackman of The MMA Hour).

 On Thursday, Jones' reps released a statement via Okamoto, saying, "Jon is focused on the fight and we are focused on the (baseless) traffic charges brought against him."

UFC also released a statement on the case:

"

UFC respects the decision made today by Judge Michael E. Martinez in New Mexico Second Judicial District Court regarding the probation terms of the case involving Jon Jones.

The organization was disappointed to learn that Jones was cited for several traffic offenses last week, as well as concerned by the nature and tone of portions of the conversation between Jones and the citing officer.

Still, UFC respects Jones' right to contest those traffic citations in court and receive a fair hearing on the matter.

Jones' scheduled bout on April 23 will proceed as planned, however, Jones understands that the UFC expects him to fully cooperate with the terms of his probation as set forth by Judge Martinez.

"

Luke Thomas of MMAFighting.com also noted that Jones confirmed he "said things to the officer he now regrets" and wasn't only cited for drag racing.

According to video obtained by TMZ, Jones called the officer who issued him the ticket a "liar," a "pig" and added that he was "despicable" while angrily arguing that he hadn't been drag racing. TMZ shared a portion of the video:

"We are aware of the situation and are looking into the matter," UFC said in a statement to Evan Rosenblum of TMZ. "We've also been in touch with Jon's team regarding the matter.”

Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk believes Jones should be facing serious punishments for his latest infractions:

Jones became the UFC light heavyweight champion in 2011 after defeating Mauricio Rua at UFC 128 and defended his title eight times. But the organization stripped him of the title before his 2015 fight against Anthony Johnson and suspended him indefinitely in April 2014 after he was involved in a hit-and-run.

Jones pleaded guilty to the hit-and-run in September 2015, and the UFC ended his suspension in October. Jones will face current light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 197 on April 23. It remains to be seen if the UFC will take any disciplinary action against Jones following this latest incident, however.

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