Jon Jones due in court to face 2 charges stemming from alleged hostility during drug testing

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is due in court to face a pair of misdemeanor charges that stem from a drug test at his New Mexico home in March in which he was accused of being hostile.

A bond hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in an Albuquerque court on charges that include assault and interference with communication.

Jones has denied the allegations, initially posting on social media in April that they were baseless. He said at the time that he was caught off guard by what he called the unprofessionalism of one of the testers and that he cursed after getting frustrated.

“However, I want to emphasize that at no point did I threaten, get in anyone’s face, raise my voice to anyone or engage in any form of assault,” Jones said in his post.

A woman who worked for Drug Free Sport International, which conducts tests for professional athletes, initially filed a report with police in April. She accused Jones of threatening her, taking her phone and cursing at her while she and a colleague were at Jones’ home for a drug test.

According to court documents, the woman described Jones as cooperative at first but that he became agitated. She accused him of picking up her phone and recording her and her colleague, saying he was going to sue them, and later putting her phone in his pocket.

The woman told police that Jones was less than a foot away from her and that she was afraid.

Jones told police that he put the phone back on the counter after realizing that it wasn’t his and that he apologized for swearing at the woman and her coworker at the end of the test. He posted video from what appears to be a home camera system showing the woman giving him a high five before leaving. He said neither appeared scared during the interaction.

On the short list of top MMA fighters, Jones took the heavyweight title more than a year ago with a first-round submission over Ciryl Gane. It was Jones’ first fight in three years and his first in the heavyweight division.

Jones, who tore a tendon during training last fall, already was the best light heavyweight by winning a record 14 title fights.

Jones was suspended for a year in 2016 for a failed drug test and had his 2017 victory over Daniel Cormier turned into a no-contest after another drug test came up positive. Jones had argued that he would have passed under standards that were revised in 2019 by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which changed the criteria for what constituted a positive test.