Jon Jones charged with battery, accused of putting waitress in chokehold

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UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is facing a misdemeanor battery charge for an incident alleged to have occurred in April inside a New Mexico strip club, according to a criminal summons obtained by ESPN's Marc Raimondi from the Albuquerque Police Department.

Jones is accused of slapping a cocktail waitress in her genital area and putting her in a chokehold while roughhousing. The waitress told local police that Jones put her in a "tight" rear-naked choke after she joked that he could put in her a choke but she couldn't do the same to him because she wasn't tall enough.

She said he then put her down by the bar and smacked her in her genital area. She told Jones twice that he couldn't smack her there unless he paid her $100. He "continued to touch her until he decided to leave the establishment."

Jones' camp only recently became aware of the charge and characterized the allegations as "malicious lies."

"Today, the media told Mr. Jones about a false accusation launched against him and that paperwork had been sent to an incorrect address," Jones' spokesperson James Hallinan told KRQE. "However, after receiving the documents from the press, Mr. Jones immediately went to pay the small fee, and he, and multiple witnesses, stand ready to factually refute the malicious lies being told about him to the public."

Jones took to Twitter Monday morning to deny the allegations.

This isn't Jones' first run-in with the law. The 32-year-old was charged with hit-and-run in 2015 and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in 2012.

In MMA, he's failed two drug tests, most recently in July 2017 when he was suspended 15 months for testing positive for a steroid metabolite.