Jon Jones entered a plea of not guilty for two misdemeanor charges: assault and interference of communications.
Jones Denies Allegations Regarding Drug Testing Agents
The current UFC Heavyweight Champion was caught off guard earlier this year in March by two drug testing agents from Drug Free Sport International, sent to his home to collect a urine sample. One of the agents Crystal Martinez filed a police report on a “frustrated” Jones, citing she was “afraid Jones might hit her” and Jones allegedly told them: “Do you know what happens to people who come to my house? They end up dead.”
Jones has since denied these allegations on ‘X‘, writing:
“At no point did I threaten , get in anyone’s face , raise my voice to anyone or engage in any form of assault. It’s unfortunate that false news has been spread without proper fact-checking. I want to assure you that I will vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations. The truth is, the incident simply did not occur.”
Hello everyone,
I wanted to address some misinformation that has been circulating this morning . I woke up to false reports that I had been arrested . I have not been arrested. In fact, I am currently in Texas with my daughters at a volleyball tournament.I must admit, it's…
— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) April 7, 2024
Appearing in virtual court on Wednesday to enter his not guilty plea, Jones is set to have a virtual bond hearing on July 17 at 9:15 a.m. MT in New Mexico, Bernalillo County Court confirmed to MMA Fighting. If found guilty on both charges, a petty misdemeanor and a regular misdemeanor, Jones could face less than a year of jail time and up to $1,500 in fines.
Smith Weighs In On ‘The Whole Drug Testing Thing’
Upon hearing two differing stories as to what happened during Jon Jones’ drug testing visit, a former foe of “Bones”, Anthony Smith has had both good and bad experiences with drug testing agents (mostly good) in his time as a UFC fighter, admitting on Michael Bisping’s Podcast, “It is a pain in the ass doing the whole drug testing thing” as drug testing agents can appear out of nowhere it seems, at random times of the day, unexpected.
“I’ve always been lucky that my drug testers have always been pretty cool. They’re fairly respectful of your time. They’re fairly respectful of the inconvenience that they’re creating for you. They’ve always been, they show up like, ‘Hey, I know it’s not the best time, sorry. Let me get this sample, and then we’ll get out of here’, you know…”
Smith Understands How ‘Bones’ Might Have ‘Flipped Out’ During Drug Test
However, Smith says that’s not always the case in how drug testing agents conduct themselves.
“But I have had one [bad experience]. I’ve had them before, like, not here at home or in Denver, but, like, just been out somewhere. They just find some random person, somebody you’ve never had before. And sometimes they can be assholes and they have this power trip or they have some sort of power over you and they want to boss you around, point the finger at you and if [Jones] got, like, one of those bad ones… I understood him because he’s a little bit hot-headed at times. I can understand him kind of flipping out.
“Apparently he was having a party, so I think he was drinking,” Smith said of Jones’ situation. “Had some friends over, and if they show up there start to be assholes and kind of being disrespectful at times. I could see him kind of going off. Now, once you start touching people and taking their phones and stuff, that’s a problem. Being an asshole to them verbally? That’s kind of in his right.”
As for their own history, Anthony Smith challenged Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship back in 2019, with Smith walking away with a unanimous decision loss at UFC 235. Though, “Lionheart” lived up to his current nickname, making it all five rounds against Jones, not taking what could have been a disqualification win after eating an illegal knee from Jones while he was still grounded.
