It looks like Jon Jones has once again dodged a bullet that was threatening to derail his fighting career. This morning the UFC light-heavyweight title contender and human traffic violation was released on his own recognizance after spending two days in an Albuquerque jail cell following a controversial traffic stop last week.Jones admitted to violating his probation (which the fighter was sentenced to last September after a hit-and-run incident involving a pregnant woman and a stack of cash) when he was ticketed last week for drag racing and exhibition driving, among other charges, during this morning's hearing in New Mexico's Second Judicial District Court. Judge Michael E. Martinez responded by beefing up the conditions of Jones' probation, though not as much as the Bernalillo County district attorney would have liked or the drivers of Albuquerque probably deserve. Under the new terms of his probation (which is set to last another 12 months) Jones agreed to attend anger-management classes (likely punishment for Jones calling his ticketing officer last week a "fucking pig" and a "liar") and driver-improvement courses (likely punishment for the last four years of Jones' life), perform 60 more hours of community service (on top of the 76 appearances he's already completed), and get approval from his probation officer every time he drives.However, Martinez declined the DA's request to impose a nightly curfew that would have forced Jones to be home every night between 10pm and 4am, which means Jones will be able to fight Daniel Cormier for the light-heavyweight belt at UFC 197 on April 23. Which is great for us as MMA fans and (probably) great for Daniel Cormier as Jones' opponent, but the jury will remain out as to whether leniency and another slap on the wrist is really the best thing for Jon Jones.After all, last week's incident was just that latest in a series of automobile-related criminal incidents for Jones. There was that drunk-driving accident in Binghamton, New York, back in 2012, when Jones crashed his Bentley into a pole, and the hit-and-run last April. And just one day before Jones was pulled over last week, he was in a different New Mexico courtroom, pleading no contest to charges of driving without a license, registration, or insurance in January: all in all an epic of vehicular ineptitude (or worse) and repeated confirmation of that now-old saw that the only person who can beat Jon Jones is Jon Jones. If I were Daniel Cormier I would demand April's title fight take place in a car, which seems to be the only place where Jones is vulnerable.No matter where Cormier and Jones fight in April and no matter who wins, what is guaranteed to happen next is yet another display of contrition by Jones as part of his eternally recurring Jekyll and Hyde routine. First came the act of vehicular malfeasance, now comes the public apology and the promises of redemption, good behavior, and rededication to the principles of hard work and clean living. In between the two, of course, comes the cameo by some judge or other, banging his gavel and swearing that this is the absolute last and final time Jones can expect leniency from the criminal-justice system. This morning that role was played by Michael E. Martinez of the Second Judicial District Court of New Mexico, who, according to ESPN reporter Brett Okamoto, delivered his lines perfectly: "Jon, if you do come back here, it won't go well."Some say he sounded almost serious.
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