Former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is facing renewed scrutiny following a series of odd and quickly deleted tweets posted early Wednesday morning. The tweets, which appeared around 5:30 AM his local time, included cryptic statements such as, “Change me by thinking about this riddle,” “The guy in the brown jacket,” “Here take my phone, he went that way,” “If people start getting away with this, it’s gonna start a free-for-all,” and “Crazy coincidence.”
Jon Jones’ Cryptic Tweets at 5:30 AM
Several other messages were also posted and promptly deleted, adding to the confusion and concern among fans and observers.
The social media activity followed the public release of police body camera footage from a February incident in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In the footage, a woman at the scene of a car crash, who appeared intoxicated and partially undressed, told police that Jones had been driving and left the scene on foot. Police then spoke with a man on the phone, whom the woman identified as Jon Jones. The man on the call made statements interpreted as threatening the use of violence through third parties, though he did not directly confirm his identity as Jones.
Jon Jones’ attorney has denied the allegations, calling the case baseless and suggesting improper targeting by police. However, in a since-deleted post on X, Jones appeared to reference the incident, writing, “Whoever was on the phone with me at first, his timestamp is different. By the time I was acting aggressive on the phone it was a completely different conversation. I was already in my paranoid and defensive state.”
Jones is scheduled for a bond arraignment on July 24 for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident. The timing of the incident and his social media activity comes just days after he announced his retirement from mixed martial arts, overshadowing news of his departure from the sport.
