Last month, UFC heavyweight Jon Jones faced allegations of threatening to kill a drug testing agent, according to NBC News.
The agent, a sample collector for Drug-Free Sports International — UFC’s anti-doping partner — claimed she and a coworker arrived at Jones’ Albuquerque residence at 4 a.m. on March 30th for a surprise drug test. A court summons was reportedly issued in connection with the complaint.
NBC News initially reported that Jones had been arrested. However, the Albuquerque Police Department later clarified this information. They explained that their system for generating incident reports doesn’t distinguish between arrests and summonses. As a result, NBC News issued a correction, stating that Jones had actually received a summons to appear in court, not been arrested.
EDITOR’S NOTE (April 8, 2024, 1:54 p.m. ET): This article has been updated to reflect a statement received from police after publication stating that Jones was not arrested.
And even though NBC has corrected the record, UFC CEO and president Dana White took aim at the network for its reporting and made it more of a referendum on journalism practices as a whole. White tore into NBC News during a recent appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast.
The conversation was sparked by Maher and White discussing their net worths, which were reported in the media. White then told the Real Time with Bill Maher host that you shouldn’t believe “anything you ****** read; it’s all bull****.”
“Everything out there today—I feel like the press, it’s dying on the vine,” White continued. “Jon Jones got into some trouble recently. He is one of my fighters, probably the greatest fighter of all time, to be honest with you. He literally is always in trouble; he always has something going on and got into trouble. NBC News put out a story that he was arrested. And he was never arrested. They don’t even try anymore.”
Maher, joint in hand, asked White to clarify the vague term “trouble” in relation to Jones.
“All of our fighters are drug tested, so the testing agents can show up at your house or wherever you are, and they have to know your whereabouts,” White explained. “(The agent) showed up, and she said that he threatened her. Then, NBC News said he was arrested and he was never arrested. Now, back in the day, when you were dealing with the media, they would fact-check. They wouldn’t put out a story unless they knew it was absolutely true. Today, it’s more about being first than being right.”
[NBC News, Club Random on YouTube]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.