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UFC president Dana White. AP/Press Association Images
Comeback

UFC boss confirms that there's a title shot waiting for Jon Jones

Dana White: “He comes right back and he fights for the title.”

DESPITE BEING STRIPPED of his Ultimate Fighting Championship belt last month, Jon Jones will fight for the title again as soon as he’s back in the octagon.

Jones, the former UFC light-heavyweight champion, was suspended indefinitely after allegedly causing — and then fleeing the scene of — a car accident in which a pregnant woman suffered a broken arm.

The mixed martial arts star was later arrested and, if convicted, he faces a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving death or personal injury. However, if the 27-year-old does return to action, he’ll immediately be given the opportunity to reclaim the belt.

“[Jon Jones] comes right back and he fights for the title,” UFC president Dana White told The Jim Rome Show.

“If you look at the murderer’s row of the 205-pound division that he went through, and he just went through it like a hot knife through butter, I mean, he’s the man. So whenever he gets his stuff together, he’d come right back and fight for the title.”

After committing a number of other driving offences during his four-year reign as a UFC champion, Jones also tested positive for cocaine metabolites in an out-of-competition drug-test prior to his January fight against Daniel Cormier.

As a result, the UFC boss is adamant that the organisation was left with little choice other than to suspend Jones and relieve him of his title: “We had gotten to the point where, you know, it was like if he had one more incident… and the level of the last incident obviously made it that much easier.

“Obviously he’s been stripped of the title, he’s not fighting anymore, and he’s got these legal issues he’s got to deal with. Once he gets through those, he’s either going to end up with a felony or jail time, or a felony and jail time. So I don’t know how this thing is going to play out. We’ll see how it goes.

“Like I said, he’s got these legal issues and he’s got a civil suit against him. He’s got a civil suit against him and all this other stuff. [We'll] see how he gets through this and then find out where his head is. How does he handle himself through this situation and after it? I mean, I’ve got to see from him that he’s doing the right thing.”

Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier will clash for the light-heavyweight belt vacated by Jones in the main event at UFC 187 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

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