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Morning Report: Miesha Tate on Jon Jones’ latest arrest: ‘He’s a grown-ass man and he needs to be responsible’

UFC 200 Good Morning America Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Two weeks ago, Jon Jones was arrested yet again, this time on charges of battery domestic violence. In the weeks that have followed, more details surrounding the arrest have come out, painting a disturbing picture wherein Jones’ fiancée, Jessie Moses, was found bleeding “from her nose/mouth” and admitted that Jones has gotten “a little bit” physical with her, though she denied that Jones hit her. It’s the latest in a long list of run-ins with the law for Jones, who has been arrested multiple times one charges of driving under the influence as well as other things, and many in the MMA community have seemingly had enough, including a notable figure who would call herself Jones’ friend.

Miesha Tate is a pioneer of MMA and the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, and speaking to MMA Mania, Tate said that’s it’s long past time for Jones to take responsibility for his actions.

“It is so disheartening,” Tate said. “Jon Jones, we can give him all the compliments for his accolades and he deserves that, but there are just a lot of unforgivable things that he’s done throughout the history of his career. At least in the limelight that we know of. It’s really tough to separate, I think it’s getting more difficult for fans to separate the two. To just be a fan of him as a fighter and not recognize the other things he does as a human being that kind of tarnish that.

“Who should be in charge of Jon Jones? Jon Jones should be in charge of Jon Jones. There’s nobody else that we should be looking at. It’s not his fiancee’s fault, it’s not his parents’ fault at this point. He’s a grown-ass man. He’s a grown-ass man and he needs to be responsible.”

Following his release on bail, Jones posted to Instagram, not directly addressing the charges against him but stating that “I will leave alcohol in my past forever.” It’s a similar message Jones to the one Jones posted last year when he was arrested for DWI where he said he had “an unhealthy relationship with alcohol.”

Given Jones’ continued problems, many have suggested that it’s high time Jones face actual repercussions for his transgressions, particularly from the UFC. Though the UFC stripped Jones of his title back in 2015, he was reinstated to the active UFC roster just five months later, which many feel was nothing more than a slap on the wrist to Jones. But Tate says that it doesn’t matter what Dana White does, this is Jones’ problem to solve.

“I would like to consider myself an acquaintance-slash-friend [of his]. I don’t wish anything ill towards Jon Jones,” Tate said. “I know I have pissed him off before with my comments, but if I had any advice for the man, from the bottom of my heart, it would be to stay away from those things that cause you that potential fallout. Whether that be alcohol, whether it be certain kinds of drugs, I don’t know. If it’s an atmosphere [or] if it’s Las Vegas. If you need to walk out of the room when you’re upset and take an hour before you come back and talk to your partner. I don’t know what his Kryptonites are, but I think he has to be strong enough and have the mental fortitude to recognize those and stay the hell away from him. That’s how he’s going to keep himself out of trouble.

“Nobody can do that but him. Dana White cannot get one of those little kiddy leashes and follow him around all day long. It’s not Dana White’s fault. You can’t do that. He has to recognize what his problems are, Kryptonites are and steer clear. I hope he can do that but I won’t be one holding my breath because you can’t even be surprised by it anymore.”

Jones is due back in court on Oct. 26.


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VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

Contender Series highlights from last week.

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Francis Ngannou’s gym and fridge.


LISTEN UP

The Co-Main Event. Discussing the weekend of mostly terrible fights.

Jack Slack. Also discussing the weekend of mostly terrible fights.


SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Seriously.

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Henry Cejudo keeps trying.

Miesha Tate coming for Aspen Ladd’s coach.

Call out.

Congratulations!

Celebration.


FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Yutaka Saito (20-4-2) vs. Juntaro Ushiku (19-8-1); RIZIN 31, Oct. 24.

Kanna Asakura (18-5) vs. Saori Oshima (6-2); RIZIN 31, Oct. 24.

Yusaku Nakamura (16-8-1) vs. Yuki Ito (8-2); RIZIN 31, Oct. 24.

Daisuke Nakamura (30-20-1) vs. Suguru Nii (12-10); RIZIN 31, Oct. 24.

Masanori Kanehara (27-14-5) vs. Takahiro Ashida (24-10-1); RIZIN 31, Oct. 24.

Daichi Abe (9-4) vs. Akira Okada (15-8-4); RIZIN 31, Oct. 24.

Seiichiro Ito (13-4-2) vs. Kunta Hashimoto (7-1); RIZIN 31, Oct. 24.

Tsuyoshi Sudario (3-1) vs. Saint (2-0); RIZIN 31, Oct. 24.

Thiago Moises (15-5) vs. Joel Alvarez (18-2); UFC Vegas 42, Nov. 13.


FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.


If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

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