It’s been nearly a month since Jon Jones and his legal team worked a deal with the Albuquerque prosecutor’s office that kept him out of jail and from becoming a felon after a super sketchy hit-and-run incident involving a pregnant woman. The arrangement cleared the way for Jon’s return to the UFC … all he needed now was for the promotion to un-suspend him.
And now they have. In a statement released on their website, the UFC ended Jones’ six month suspension while trying to maintain they are Very Serious about what happened:
Effective immediately, Jones is eligible to return to competition. As such, UFC expects Jones to meet all of the terms of his plea agreement, including mandatory community service, as a condition of his reinstatement.
UFC is currently discussing with Jones a potential date for his return to the Octagon.
“We’ve made it clear to Jon that this new opportunity to compete in UFC is a privilege and not a right, and that there are significant expectations we have regarding his conduct moving forward,” said UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. “We’re happy to read and see reports that he has embraced the terms of his plea agreement and is using this experience to grow and develop as a person.”
On Jones’ side, the former UFC light heavyweight champ reappeared on Instagram at the start of October after a six and a half month social media blackout. New pics and videos show him spending his time lifting some serious weights and visiting a lot of schools and community sports groups – the latter of which we’ll be seeing a lot more of. As part of his plea, Jones has to make 72 speaking appearances over 18 months.
And now with his reinstatement he put up a video where he looks pretty happy to be back:
*UPDATE* Shocker – Jones deleted the video. But fortunately MMA superfan Zombie Prophet backed it up and mirrored it on Youtube. So that’s what you’re seeing above.
The video is at odds with the UFC’s statement and a throwback to the days where Jones would regularly troll his haters, posting videos to his Instagram and then deleting them hours later. The guy knows this is going to piss off people who think he got off easy with community service and a six month suspension, but Jon don’t care. There’s a clear message here for those that are following him: he isn’t about to stop being him and he plans to return to the UFC with his head held high.
The caption for his Instagram video: #Champion2016. Does anyone really doubt him?
