Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones’ plea deal ‘just not enough’ to deter future legal run-ins

MMA News
Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones’ plea deal ‘just not enough’ to deter future legal run-ins

Jon Jones managed to avoid serious punishment for his most recent arrest, and his chief rival, Daniel Cormier, predicts future legal trouble for the UFC light heavyweight champion.

Jones last week struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time following his arrest for aggravated DWI and negligent use of a firearm, among others. He instead received 96 hours of community custody (essentially house arrest), one year of supervised probation, a minimum 90 days of outpatient therapy – via video conferencing due to the coronavirus pandemic – and 48 hours of community service.

Cormier, who’s failed to defeat Jones in two tries, has made no bones about his disdain for Jones through the years. But Cormier also said after Jones’ arrest that he’s taken no joy in seeing his nemesis fall yet again.

And now he’s worried that a light sentence won’t do much to deter Jones from more run-ins with the law.

“I just think he still will need something to really almost punch him in the stomach, because I don’t know if this is going to be it, if I’m being honest,” Cormier told ESPN on Monday. “I just don’t know if this will be it. I just don’t know if this is going to be it. …

“This is not me hoping he would get sent to jail. I just don’t think this punishment is going to be enough to stop him from doing those type of things again. Ultimately, there will be something else. Sadly, there will be something else. It’s just not enough.”

Jones’ arrest was the latest in a long string of brushes with the law for the fighter considered by many the greatest in MMA history. The highest profile incidents were a 2012 escapade in which he was charged with DUI after wrecking his Bentley into a telephone pole in upstate New York, and a 2015 occasion in which he was charged with hit-and-run after injuring a pregnant woman in a collision in Albuquerque.

After entering his plea agreement, Jones admitted to having an “unhealthy relationship” with alcohol in his lone statement issued through his management team.

This past weekend, Jones shared a video of himself “off-roading” in the desert (via Twitter), the first time he’s been seen in public since bodycam video of his arrest came to light.

Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones' plea deal 'just not enough' to deter future legal run-ins