Rockhold: ‘Jones was a ticking time bomb… It was bound to happen!’

The MMA world is still trying to wrap it’s head around the recent Jon Jones saga. The pound-for-pound top ranked fighter in the world and the now former UFC light-heavyweight champion, is now neither of those things. He was stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely following his arrest stemming from a hit-and-run car crash.

Jones peers have been coming out via social media and interviews to let their opinion on the matter be known.

UFC middleweight Luke Rockhold spoke with BJPENN.COM’s Layzie The Savage about Jones and what his actions mean for the sport as a whole. Check out what he had to say.

“Jon Jones? How unfortunate, but fortunate for us,” admitted Rockhold, who is now helping his teammate Daniel Cormier train for a title fight against Jones’ scheduled opponent, Anthony Johnson, “The man’s a ticking time bomb, it needed to happen, it was bound to happen.”

Although his teammate now gets another shot at the title, Rockhold says that the whole situation is sad, but thinks that it just needed to happen.

“I think everything happens for a reason and if that didn’t happen how were things going to change?” He added,  “If he doesn’t learn from this–like how do you not?”

Rockhold thinks that the thing that will impact Jones the most is his potential time away from his family. Obviously it’s not known if Jones will face any jail time, but Rockhold imagines if he did, that would affect him the most.

“Yeah it’s sad dude. He’s got a whole family. That’s the thing that will make him learn the most. The time away from his kids and his family.”

As far as how Jones’ actions effect the sport of MMA as a whole? Rockhold thinks it puts a black eye on the sport and says it’s not something a growing sport like MMA needs.

“We’re trying to legitimize ourselves and grow. We can’t have that.”

By: Ryan C. Miller | @ryancmiller1630

WATCH! Rousey Pulls Of Armbar Against Luke Rockhold!