Odds Jon Jones Is Stripped of UFC Belt After Arrest, Unlikely to Fight Before End of 2020

• Odds on Jon Jones’ 2020 are emerging among oddsmakers
• Does Jones get in more trouble or serve jail time? Does Jones fight this year again and does he keep the belt?
• Check out the odds below, the details of the situation, and my analysis of what’s to come

Jon Jones’ 2020  has already been a tumultuous one. Not only did he have a highly contentious decision victory over Dominick Reyes but he has again found himself in legal troubles.

Jones has a lengthy history of issues with the law but was building up a solid streak of building up defenses and staying out of trouble largely. On Thursday, he was arrested for DWI as well as negligent use of a firearm.

Jon Jones’ 2020 Odds

Odds taken on March 27th.

A precedent has been set for Jones whereby past issues with the law have caused him to relinquish the belt. Daniel Cormier and Rumble Johson would fight for the hardware in Bones’ absence.

Will Jones Serve Jail Time?

The situation where he had his belt initially stripped was in a hit-and-run incident though. I think this is a situation that Jones will be able to get out of virtually unscathed. I don’t see him serving any jail time. The timeline of his run-ins with the law indicates a pattern of oftentimes not going to jail more often that it includes being behind bars. It’s fair to make the inference that the same will happen this time.

Pick: Jon Jones spends a night in jail before the end of 2020 (No -160)

Will Jones Fight in the UFC this Year?

COVID-19 considerations have left the world at large and on a microcosm level, the MMA world largely quiet. Jones’ outside-the-cage actions have ignited a lot of discussion and speculation among those in the combat sports community. The odds favor Jones not competing again this calendar year. I disagree with this line. I think this is a good underdog bet and I can see Jon Jones getting in at least one more fight before 2020 comes to a close — even in lieu of any possible legal fallout from this recent situation.

Pick: Jon Jones to fight in UFC before the end of 2020 (Yes +250)

Toughest Opponent For Jones Is Himself

Some handsome journalists are pontificating on possible match-ups but nothing has been set in stone for vacating the belt at all.  I think this will be the last instance where Jones has an issue with the law in 2020. The pacing of his crimes as of late is a little more spaced out. He seems to do one notably egregious thing once every year or few years nowadays. I think this will be Jones’ only big run-in with the police this year. At least I hope so. This is a situation for Jones where in all seriousness I hope people that are close to him intervene in some way. To get him the assistance that he clearly needs.

Pick: Jon Jones is arrested again before the end of 2020 (No -500)

Police bodycam footage of Jon Jones' arrest shows the #UFC champion explaining to an officer that he "got stir crazy" while under quarantine and needed to go for a drive.

Full story w/video: https://t.co/hmFM34yJ3T pic.twitter.com/Dorhc0Ffwn

— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) March 27, 2020

Will Jones Get Stripped of Belt?

I’m genuinely baffled as to how Jones hasn’t hired a personal driver at this point. This gobsmacks me but does not have me as taken aback as the notion of a champion’s outside-the-cage issues causing him to be stripped of the gold. Not once but twice. Unprecedented stuff for an athlete that is a true anomaly. I think ultimately Jon Jones will be able to keep on for the bet. At least for the time being. I theorize that Jones’ legal representations and the aforementioned sentences he has had, or lack thereof, will result in Bones holding that belt in his clutches.

Pick: Jon Jones to be stripped of UFC belt by the end of 2020 (No N/A)