BLOG: UFC star Jon Jones should've known better in run-in with cop

MANILA, Philippines – Returning UFC veteran Jon Jones' latest run-in with the authorities could take a page off a comic book hero's anecdote.

Earlier today, news of the former light heavyweight champion getting slapped with multiple traffic violations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while still serving probation, has made the rounds on the Internet. It came in a most inconvenient moment, as Jones is poised for a return in the fighting arena weeks from now.

But what has put him in a tight spot is not that because he was again slapped with a driving ticket -- but instead, the manner in which he carried himself in the presence of a cop.

In a video released by TMZ, Jones lashed out on the cop, calling the the latter names. See the video below:

Later today, the athlete issued an apology, still denying he was drag racing "nor speeding." Jones added, "I did not get a speeding ticket.  I was driving within the speed limit of the 35mph zone."

"I feel that police used a technicality to ticket me for drag racing, for simply revving my engine and acknowledging some of my local fans," Jones went on.

Let's take a step back and examine who's in a clear disadvantage here. While the United States has been a source of a myriad wrongful police pull-overs, we should remember that Jones has a police record that's not so tidy.

In 2012, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. In 2014, he turned out positive cocaine use. And just recently, he was slapped with probation after a plea agreement to settle an arrest in 2015 that tagged him in a car crash.

Yes, we all know how athletes work hard for all of glitz and glamor that come with their fame. But we all have to agree that putting them in that public spotlight makes them a public figure -- a personification of values that should be emulated from.

And misbehavior isn't one of them.

Jones should have known better. He has been in this situation. He knows how hard it is to be painted a bad man. And he should be the first person to realize how quickly everything he has toiled for could evaporate in a single, swift and miscalculated knee-jerk of a reaction.

Just to reiterate it: Jon Jones is a public figure. He's subject to a multitude of scrutiny and a myriad of following. Everyone knows him.

To put into context, who has more to lose? Was it the cop? Definitely not.

The cop was just a regular Joe. He could be an abusive policeman or not. But that's about it.

Jones, on the other hand, has a recipe for redemption he's still yet to test. He's up to face a familiar archrival in Daniel Cormier at  UFC 197 and getting embroiled -- with an unpleasant police record, to boot -- can cost him the very window of opportunity he has been very vocal about on working on.

Whether he deserved those five tickets last weekend or not, unloading a handful of expletives toward a traffic enforcer will never be acceptable.

And if you're still wondering on what anecdote we're referring to, just remember that it was from a fighter, too: