Jones has plea hearing Sept. 29

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones became the first fighter to lose his title for violating the terms of the Athlete Code of Conduct policy. In April Jones reportedly ran a red light, hit a car being driven by a pregnant woman, and fled from the scene. The woman suffered a broken arm in the accident.

Witnesses, including an off-duty police officer, reported that Jones ran back to the car, stuffed some money into his pants, and fled again. A quantity of Marijuana and a Marijuana pipe were left in the car. The vehicle, a silver Buick SUV rental, had paperwork identifying Jones as the renter. He did not turn himself in for nearly 24 hours.

Now Marc Raimondi reports that Jones will have a plea hearing on Sept. 29 at 8:30 a.m. local time. MMA Fighting has been diligently covering the case, and learned that the case is coming to court “on the stipulation of the parties for the entry of a pre-indictment plea.”

Jones has not plead either guilty or innocent yet; were he indicted, he would. But the indictment would have to come from a grand jury, at the direction of the county district attorney. However, the case was never brought before a grand jury, but appears to be headed for a plea bargain.

Once a plea agreement is reached, the UFC and any relevant licensing bodies will take further steps regarding his career.

Jones was of course stripped of the title now held by Daniel Cormier. ‘DC’ now fights challenger Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192 on Oct. 3, just four days after Jones’ plea hearing.