Jon Jones bench trial pushed back one month after officer unable to attend

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones will have to wait another month or more before his bench trial in a New Mexico court.

The bench trial was scheduled for Thursday in Bernalillo County (N.M.). Jones and his attorney Christopher Dodd joined the hearing virtually, as did the alleged victim in the case, Crystal Martinez.

Judge Asra I. Elliott continued the trial until Sept. 26 after receiving late notice that the officer who responded to the alleged incident involving Jones was unable to attend due to a police call.

Jones, 37, faces misdemeanor charges of assault and interference with communications. He previously pleaded not guilty to both.

The charges stemmed from an alleged March 30 altercation with two UFC anti-doping testers from Drug Free Sport International at Jones’ home in Albuquerque. Martinez, one of the drug test agents, accused Jones of threatening her and taking her phone during a urine sample collection. The worker also said Jones seemed and smelled like he was intoxicated from alcohol.

The worker alleges that Jones put her phone in his pocket, “got into her face,” and said, “Why you f*cking people come so early? Do you know what happens to people who come to my house? They end up dead.”

Jones quickly denied the allegations after reports of the incident surfaced and shared home surveillance video appearing to show a high-five exchange with the worker.

Jones, 37, is in the middle of a long layoff. He hasn’t competed since March 2023, when he claimed the vacant UFC heavyweight title with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane. Jones was set to defend his belt against former champ Stipe Miocic last November at UFC 295, but the fight fell off with three weeks to go after Jones tore his pectoral tendon in training.

Jones vs. Miocic is widely expected to be rebooked and headline UFC 309 this November at Madison Square Garden in New York.