Jones details the greatest regret of his public life

While Jon Jones is frequently, in some ways characteristically a kind and decent human being, sometimes he’s very publicly not. On April 26, 2015, he was driving a rented silver SUV and ran a red light, striking a car driven by a pregnant woman in her 20s. He fled the scene only to return, stuff cash into his pants, and run away again into the night. Police found marijuana and a pipe in the vehicle. He turned himself in the next day.

During a recent interview on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Jones discussed it.

My biggest regret out of everything, if we’re going to talk about public things, that the general public would know about, it was hitting the pregnant woman in that hit and run car accident four years ago,” said Jones, as transcribed by Ken Pishna for MMA Weekly. “Even though it was four years ago, it is something — everyone has a mother, everyone has a wife or sister — and that was one of the worst situations I’ve ever been a part of. Had no clue it was a pregnant woman. I had no clue it was a woman. I just knew that I felt like it was a fender bender type of thing. Obviously, it wasn’t a fender bender, but I wasn’t hurt, I felt fine, and I assumed the person I hit was fine as well. Hairline fracture in the woman’s arm and she was a pregnant woman.

Just a terrible, terrible situation. Being a father of daughters, being a fiancé, and being a person who loves his mother dearly, hurting a woman is terrible. That’s probably one of the few things that I would totally take back if I could.

Jones run of idiotic behavior didn’t start with the accident, or end with it. 

His belt was stripped for the accident and he returned from that suspension at UFC 197 on April 23, 2016 defeating Ovince Saint Preux via Unanimous Decision for the interim belt. The source of that failed anti-doping test was determined to be a tainted, bootleg, erectile dysfunction pill. Jones returned from that second belt loss and defeated Daniel Cormier via KO at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017, only to see the bout changed to a No Contest and the title stripped after he tested positive for the Turinabol metabolite M3. The amount was minuscule, and Jones was suspended for 15 months, after the initial sanction was heavily reduced due to his providing “Substantial Assistance” – information bringing forward an Anti-Doping Policy Violation by another person.

While Jones deeply regrets the hit and run accident, it doesn’t prey on him. 

I don’t think about it at all, not these days,” he said. “It was like four years ago, hairline fracture four years ago. Girl made almost a million dollars off the situation. I’m sure her life’s been changed forever and I’m not making it okay, but to be real, life goes on. The girl’s life goes on, the baby’s healthy, and it happened.

Jones fights Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 on December 29. It will be the fourth time he’s fought for the light heavyweight title, which is bizarre given that he’s probably the MMA G.O.A.T.