[24] His subsequent returns to the UFC in 2016 and 2017 saw him emerge victorious in title bouts against Ovince Saint Preux and Daniel Cormier, but were both cut short by Jones testing positive for banned substances and receiving further suspensions, with the latter reversed to a no contest.

[52] The Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts prohibited downward elbow strikes, and Jones was initially only penalized a point from the round.

[54] UFC president Dana White was aggrieved that referee Steve Mazagatti ruled the bout as a disqualification, which resulted in a loss for Jones, saying that it should have been a no contest.

[67] In the Inside MMA interview, Jones also stated that he had been informed by Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta that if he finished his next two fights, he would likely receive a title shot.

[80] Jones successfully defended the light heavyweight title at UFC 140, stopping Machida at 4:26 of the second round via guillotine choke technical submission.

[84][85] Jones then refused a late replacement fight with Chael Sonnen after his coach Greg Jackson told him with three training days left, it would be difficult to prepare.

Like I said, I don't think this is going to make Jon Jones popular with the fans, sponsors, cable distributors, television network executives or other fighters.

[100] Jones displayed a lack of interest in the bout and actively downplayed the contest, making it clear that he did not believe Sonnen was a fit contender.

[126] On April 27, 2014, UFC President Dana White confirmed that Jones would next have a rematch against Gustafsson, and stated the possibility of the match taking place in a stadium in Sweden on pay-per-view.

[141] However, on April 28, Jones was stripped of the belt and suspended from the UFC indefinitely in connection with a hit-and-run incident where he crashed into a pregnant woman then fled the scene on foot.

Subsequently, UFC President Dana White made the decision to strip him of the Light Heavyweight championship, and return it to Daniel Cormier.

Fournet’s teammate, Stephen Koepfer, who later recounted the events of both matches, admitted, “That was the first time I saw Doug get submitted by anybody, so it was pretty surprising.”[181] After being called out by some MMA fans at the Europa Games expo in October 2016, Jones decided to take part in the NAGA no-gi grappling tournament.

[182] In his next match, he defeated Rich O’Toole, a BJJ brown belt, with a leg-in guillotine neck crank shoulder choke—a variation of the guillotine choke that O’Toole says Jones himself dubbed “The Williams Whirl.”[183][184] Jones agreed to headline the Submission Underground 2 main event on December 10, 2016, against MMA legend Dan Henderson, a former two-division Pride champion and the last Strikeforce light heavyweight champion.

[186][187] Jones has trained with Team BombSquad out of Cortland, New York, then briefly with the Tristar Gym in Montreal, Canada and most recently at Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

[189] Jones stands out by his high adaptability and flawless technique in the cage and has been described as "one of the most dynamic, innovative, and constantly evolving fighters in the history of MMA"[190] and "perhaps the greatest martial artist ever to step into an octagon".

[202] On March 19, 2011, Jones was en route to Great Falls Historic Park in Paterson, New Jersey,[203] where he planned to meditate several hours ahead of his fight against Maurício "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128.

The incident was witnessed by an off-duty police officer who identified the suspect as an African-American man, wearing a white shirt and dark pants, whom he believed to be Jones.

[224] Though initially wanted for questioning that could have resulted in a simple misdemeanor, Jones's charges were elevated to a felony on April 27 for injuring a person and purposely leaving the scene of an accident.

Jones met all of the conditions, which included 72 separate appearances for charity or youth outreach, avoiding a felony charge on his criminal record.

Police stated that while he was being detained, a belligerent Jones headbutted the hood of the patrol vehicle, leaving a dent, had made threats and challenged the arresting officers to a fight, and had said he could break free from the handcuffs.

[237] Four days after his arrest, Jones posted an Instagram video of himself lifting weights, with the caption saying "I have way too much trauma to consume alcohol, my brain simply can't handle it anymore.

[241] He pleaded guilty to DUI charges and was order to pay a $1,000 fine, install ignition interlocks on all of his vehicles, complete a victims impact class, and had his driver's license suspended for six months.

[242] On July 21, 2019, it was reported that Jones had been charged with battery for an alleged incident in April 2019 involving a cocktail waitress at a strip club in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

[243][244] The bench trial of the case was held on September 26, 2019,[245] where Jones pleaded no contest to the charges and received a 90-day deferred sentence whereby he must avoid arrest, not violate the law, consume no alcohol or drugs and not return to the scene.

[247] According to police reports, an Albuquerque PD officer heard what sounded like a gunshot and, upon further investigation, observed a black Jeep with Jones in the driver's seat.

Police then searched Jones's vehicle while arresting him for DWI and found a partially empty bottle of Recuerdo Mezcal as well as a black handgun underneath the driver's seat.

[249] On March 30, 2024, Crystal Martinez, a drug-testing agent from Drug Free Sport filed a police report stating that Jones allegedly assaulted her and threatened to kill her during a recent visit to his home when she was tasked with collecting a urine sample as part of the UFC's anti-doping program.

Put simply, a CIR test would be able to determine if the testosterone in Jones's system was synthetic or natural," Brent Brookhouse of Bloody Elbow wrote.

[266] On August 22, 2017, it was announced that Jones was flagged for a potential doping violation by USADA, stemming from his test sample that was collected on July 28, one day before his rematch against Cormier at UFC 214.

[276] Drug tests administered at UFC 232 found an ultra trace amount of turinabol, which doctors attributed to a long-term "pulsing effect" of the M3 metabolite detected in 2017.