Would A New UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Be Taken Seriously?

With Jon Jones now out on bail on an Albuquerque, New Mexico, felony arrest warrant and both pictures of his alleged hit-and-run crash and a response from the 25-year-old pregnant woman who broke her arm in the collision out in the open, the UFC has no decision but to act and punish Jones accordingly in the face of his latest legal troubles.

They certainly don’t want to be faced with this kind of dilemma heading into quite possibly the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) of all-time in May 23’s UFC 187, where Jones was supposed to be in the headlining spot against the man most feel has the best shot at taking his title, bruising slugger Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

With Jones facing potential jail time, it’s hard to say the UFC could justify keeping him on the card at this point. They already left him off with a glorified slap on the wrist in the form of a ,000 fine for his random pre-fight drug test failure for cocaine heading in to his UFC 182 showdown with Daniel Cormier.

If they did that again, their reputation will most likely be as sullied and downtrodden as Jones’ is, so they obviously can’t allow that to happen. But how do they enact the correct punishment in addition to whatever legal ramifications Jones will face, while still keeping the not-so-deep light heavyweight division afloat?

The surface answer would be for Johnson and Cormier to fight it out for the belt. Both have been and are currently in training camps; Cormier for Ryan Bader at June 6’s UFC Fight Night 68 from New Orleans and “Rumble” obviously for Jones. It would take a bit of adjusting, of course, but there’s still time to make the necessary stylistic changes to suitably prepare for either fighter, respectively. Johnson is most likely going to be looking to tear his opponent’s head off regardless of whom it is.

That’s a viable option, but there’s only one major caveat with that scenario.

We simply have to see Jones fight it out with “Rumble” to determine who is the true ruler of the 205-pound roost, because anything less will just not matter. It’d be even worse than the current heavyweight situation that’s developed with Cain Velasquez on the sidelines for almost 18 months; Fabricio Werdum is the interim champion, but no one really thinks he’s the true champ.

Jones also handled Cormier with relative ease in the championship rounds of their historic match-up, so if her were to beat “Rumble,” it’ would be extra difficult to legitimize him as the champion. If Johnson won, well, he’d be the temporary champ, but he’d bee in a position that everyone already knew he was in.

Fans and media alike would all know that Jones was and is the true champion, the world’s top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter who has to be defeated fair and square in the center of the Octagon for that title to be wrested away from him.

There’s a good chance that he may need to spend some time figuring things out in an actual substance abuse rehabilitation center. It’s clear Jones needs help just based on the things he’s done to put his once-in-a-billion athletic career on the line for absolutely no reason whatsoever. He’s probably the most talented fighter ever, so it’s beyond puzzling (and saddening) to see him throw it away with drugs, alcohol, and disregard for human life.

Yet creating a new titleholder just won’t feel hone hundred percent official with Jones on the sidelines. With that said, do you believe that a new light heavyweight champion should be crowned as soon as UFC 187?

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports