According to a report by KRQE in Albuquerque, New Mexico, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was charged with battery from April incident at a strip club that resulted in a bench warrant.
The problem: he said he was unaware of the charge or warrant until the KRQE report.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi added some additional info from the police report:
“The alleged victim told police that she was serving Jones and his brother at the strip club. She did not mention Jones’ brother by name. Both of his brothers, Chandler and Arthur, are NFL veterans. Jones, the alleged victim said, had been asking her to give him a lap dance repeatedly, but she refused due to club policy because she was a waitress and not one of the dancers. She said Jones at one point pulled her onto her lap and kissed on her neck.
Later, the alleged victim told police that Jones was waiting for shots from the bar when he put her in a “tight” rear-naked choke. She said she joked that he can put her in a choke, but she can’t put him in one because she wasn’t tall enough. Jones then picked her up off the ground, turned her in the air and was “roughhousing” with her, she told cops.
She said Jones then placed her down by the bar and smacked her in her genital region. The alleged victim said she told Jones twice he couldn’t smack her there that unless he paid her $100. She said Jones “continued to touch her until he decided to leave the establishment.”
The station provided court records that showed Jones didn’t show up for a bond arraignment for the charge in June, resulting in the bench warrant. The court sent him a letter about the warrant, but it bounced back. Made aware of the warrant, he paid the $300 bond on Sunday and the warrant was cleared. The APD said they didn’t arrest Jones because they are usually not made aware of petty misdemeanor warrants.
A court date has not yet been set.
The 32-year-old Jones is denying the allegations and a Jackson-Wink spokesperson gave the following statement to KRQE:
“Today, the media told Mr. Jones about a false accusation launched against him and that paperwork had been sent to an incorrect address. However, after receiving the documents from the press, Mr. Jones immediately went to pay the small fee, and he, and multiple witnesses, stand ready to factually refute the malicious lies being told about him to the public.”
In a series of tweets Monday morning, Jones replied to fans, saying “I’m definitely not in any trouble my friend, don’t be so quick to believe everything you read on the Internet” and “I know there’s a whole bunch of people hoping for my downfall but there’s even more who are proud of me and love seeing me do well. And screw staying inside, I love this community.. excited to keep climbing, haters going to be mad when I win in December.”
At the time of the incident, Jones was preparing for his July title defense against Thiago Santos.