UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones Pleaded innocent to two misdemeanor charges Wednesday at Bernalillo County (NM) court arraignment Wednesday.
Jones, 36, appeared virtually with attorney Christopher Dodd at the hearing, which was presided over by Judge Brittany Maldonado Malott. Jones has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of assault and interfering with communications. MMA fight first reported details of the process.
With Jones released on his own recognizance, Malott ruled that the conditions of his continued release included that he not violate any laws, possess firearms or consume alcohol or illegal drugs. He must also not contact the victims in the case.
Jones is awaiting a trial, but no date was set during Wednesday’s hearing.
The charges stemmed from an alleged fight on March 30 with two UFC drug testers from Drug Free Sport International at Jones’ Albuquerque home. A tester accused Jones of threatening her and stealing her phone during a urine sample collection. The worker also said Jones looked and smelled like he was intoxicated by alcohol.
The worker alleges that Jones put her phone in her pocket, “smacked her in the face” and said, “Why are you bastards coming so early? Do you know what happens to people who come to my house? They end up dead.
Jones quickly denied the allegations after reports of the incident emerged and shared home surveillance video appeared to show an exchange of greetings with the worker.
Jones, who turns 37 on July 19, is in the midst of a long layoff, having not competed since March 2023, when he won the vacant UFC heavyweight title with a first round finish by Ciryl Gane. Jones was supposed to defend his belt against former champion Stipe Miocic last November at UFC 295, but the fight fell with three weeks to go for Jones, who tore his pectoral tendon during training.
Jones vs. Miocic is expected to be rescheduled and headline UFC 309 in November at Madison Square Garden in New York.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24402141/STK071_apple_K_Radtke_01.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1 "Apple offers small developers more ways to bypass its app store alternative tax")
