UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones was arrested early Saturday morning for an apparent DUI. A press release from Jones’ management team confirmed the arrest.
Jones was involved in a car accident at approximately 5 a.m. ET in Binghamton, Ny., and the Broome County Sheriff’s department reportedly took him into custody shortly after.
“I can confirm that Jon Jones was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI,” Jones’ manager Malki Kawa said in a press release. “While the facts of this situation are still being gathered and situated, First Round Management fully supports Jon, and we are asking for fans and media to respect the privacy of Jon and his family during this time.”
Jones was not injured after crashing his Bentley into a utility pole.
The 24-year-old Jones is 16-1 in mixed martial arts — 10-1 in the UFC with his only loss being a disqualification — and recently defeated Rashad Evans at UFC 145 to defend his title for a third consecutive time. The Endicott, Ny., native became the youngest UFC champion ever when he TKO’d Mauricio Rua at UFC 128 in March of 2011.
In addition to Evans and Rua, Jones has wins over former UFC champions Lyoto Machida and Quinton Jackson, as well as notable fighters Ryan Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera and Stephan Bonnar.
Jones is currently scheduled to defend his title against former Pride champion Dan Henderson at UFC 151 in Las Vegas on Sept. 1. There is no word at this time whether or not this bout is in jeopardy.
UFC featherweight Ross Pearson was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Las Vegas earlier in early May, but the Ultimate Fighter season 9 winner was not pulled from his upcoming fight and is currently scheduled to take on Cub Swanson at UFC on FX 4on June 22.
At the time of Pearson’s arrest, UFC president Dana White told MMAJunkie.com : “I’m a realist. You can’t expect all these people to be perfect. I understand they’re role models. They’re human beings. They’re going to make mistakes. I’m one of those guys that believes we’re all going to make mistakes. It’s how you handle it after you make that mistake that tells you who you really are.”
Prior to his April 21 tilt with Evans, it was revealed that the UFC would be Jones’ primary sponsor for the fight, something that had never been done in the history of the organization.
In an interview with MMAWeekly.com Jones explained why he thought the UFC chose him to be its first sponsored fighter: “I think that they trust that I’ll never make them look bad. You never have to worry about me with a DWI (driving while under the influence) or doing something crazy.”