Newly-released body cam footage shows Jon Jones
headbutting a police vehicle and yelling obscenties at officers on
the night of his arrest for battery domestic violence and vehicle
tampering this past September.
The video, which was obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal,
shows an agitated and emotional Jones handcuffed against a police
vehicle on the Las Vegas strip. The former UFC light heavyweight
champion was arrested due to an
alleged domestic violence incident with his fiancee, Jessie
Moses. Jones was in town for a UFC Hall of Fame induction for his
2013 fight with Alexander
Gustafsson.
“Humiliating me [on] my Hall of Fame night,” Jones can be heard
saying on the video to officers. “You f—ing nerd. I hate you. I
hate you! I hate you! You f—ing nerd. I hate you so much.
“Say your name publicly. … You turned me in my Hall of Fame
night, just because I’m big and Black. And what did I do? …. I
came from my Hall of Fame ceremony, and I’m Black, and I did
nothing to you.”
According to the
Review-Journal, Jones also yells racial slurs at officers,
although the audio in the footage has been edited, with Jones’
voice bleeped out on multiple occasions. Jones continues to grow
agitated and then begins jumping up and down before headbutting the
vehicle, which left a “medium sized dent” and chipped some paint on
the cruiser, according to a police report.
“Bro, hang me. Hurt me and kill me. What did I do?” Jones says. “A
Black man can’t drink? Getting elected into the Hall of Fame, and
this is what I’ve got?”
Jones eventually calms down and complies with officers, who usher
him into the police vehicle.
Jones ultimately
accepted a plea deal in the case that allowed him to avoid jail
time. He pleaded no contest to the charge of misdemeanor
destruction of property and was ordered to pay $750 in restitution
to the victim and seek counseling for anger management. He was also
banned from Jackson-Wink MMA, his longtime gym in Albuquerque,
N.M.
Jones hasn’t fought for the UFC since February 2020, but he remains
active on social media teasing a move to the heavyweight
division.