This past weekend, Mr. Jon Jones was in the news again. I wish I could say for once it was good, like defending his belt or something along those lines. Nope; once again his pattern of bad behavior got him in trouble again. He was charged with battery against a cocktail waitress at a strip club. The victim claims that Jones put her in a choke hold, lifting her off the ground, and touching her inappropriately. We all know his past between the hit and run and failed drug tests. Now its time for UFC suspensions, unlike the NFL, to start being more consistent with their penalties against fighters that break the law. Especially when it comes to domestic violence.
UFC Suspensions Need to be More Consistent Than the NFL
Much like Roger Goodell and the NFL, Dana White and the UFC have been inconsistent with punishments. They suspended Jones indefinitely for the hit and run incident in 2015 and didn’t return to fight until April 2016. In 2012, Jeremy Stephens was charged with a felony willful injury and a misdemeanor assault charge. Instead of UFC suspending him and kicking him off the card, they were trying to bail out Stephens prior to his fight with Yves Edwards. What kind of message does this send to people and fans of the UFC?
Speaking of messages being sent to fans. What kind of message does it send when UFC hires a fighter that already has a history of domestic violence? They signed Greg Hardy and debuted him this past January. He was investigated for throwing his ex-girlfriend through furniture and threatening to kill her. Greg Hardy started his career in the NFL but after numerous run ins with the law, no team wanted to sign him. He has kept his nose clean since being in the UFC, but its to early to tell if he has learned to stop breaking the law.
Stop With the Favoritism
The main issue with UFC being inconsistent with their punishments is the favoritism for fighters that sell more PPV’s then others. Jon Jones is one of the biggest PPV sellers in the company. With all the out of competition legal issues he gets into, he is still always headlining events. Connor McGregor through a dolly into a bus filled with fighters causing some injuries to fighters, and gets no punishment from the UFC. Yet Thiago Silva got arrested for aggravated battery and was cut from UFC.
I understand, people mess up. But if UFC wants to have fighters smarten up that consistently mess up all the time, then the UFC suspensions need to be more consistent and harder on their punishments, starting with Jones. Send the message to the fighters and fans that the UFC will not be inconsistent with punishments anymore.
