Dana White is on vacation right now, he claims via social media, but that doesn’t mean that the UFC will remain silent on the Jon Jones/Daniel Cormier dust-up from earlier today in Las Vegas. In fact, the UFC is taking a publicly “tough” stance against both Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier following the brawl today, with UFC’s Chief Legal Officer Kirk Hendrick promising that there will be ramifications for both men involved in the incident today.
“This is certainly not a proud moment for the UFC organization,” said Kirk Hendrick, the UFC’s Chief Legal Officer. “We expect more from our athletes, especially these two gentlemen, who are very well-trained and highly educated professionals. Their actions were clearly a violation of the UFC’s code of conduct.”
As for penalties from the UFC, Hendrick said, “We are going to reserve our right to penalize both fighters after the commission has made a decision. We expect more from our athletes and we are prepared to levy sanctions to reinforce the appropriate behavior.”
“There are going to be ramifications,” he concluded. “Whether you’re the champion, or this is your first fight in the UFC, there are going to be ramifications from the UFC for these actions.”
The sheer fact alone that this incident has been the biggest MMA story of the entire summer after what seemed like fading interest from fans seems to point at any sort of action against Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier being a slap on the wrist public relations event, because this is something that everyone is talking about, while the UFC has had a difficult time getting anyone to talk about their upcoming events otherwise.