Ever since arriving at the UFC Jon Jones hasn’t been playing 100-percent although he is known to be one of the greatest that mixed martial arts have seen being the youngest champ in UFC history.
Jones hasn’t been at his best and not because of personal issues or an injury but because of a fighting battle he had to win with himself.
Not performing at full speed has been because of his constant partying and drinking he did throughout training camp even getting to the point of being blackout drunk. It could be days before stepping into the Octagon and Jones would go out.
“I had this crazy thing that I would do where I would party one week before every fight and I did that throughout my whole career. It was stupid but it was this mental crutch that I had. I literally would one week before every fight, I would go out, I would get blacked out wasted,” Jones confessed when speaking to Joe Rogan on his podcast.
He went on to talk about why he did this stating,
“My logic was if this guy was to beat me somehow I can look myself in the mirror and say that I lost because I got hammered the week before the fight. It was a safety net. I did it my whole career. I would go out and get hammered one week before every fight.”
Although this method seems crazy it would work for Jones he would still win fights so he saw no reason to stop his routine. In 2013, he faced one of his toughest opponents when he went head to head with Alexander Gustafsson. They fought five rounds before winning a unanimous decision Jones stated, he wasn’t prepared for that fight.
“I had this feeling that I was invincible and I did a lot of wild stuff leading up to that fight,” Jones said. “I definitely didn’t give it my all. Mainly partying, drinking, staying up all night.”
Jones realized this was all taking a toll on him and his career when he was involved in an hit-and-run accident that got him arrested and suspended. After watching Daniel Cormier and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson fight for his title he knew he had to change.
“I stopped answering my phone calls for a lot of people and I just went into hiding for a while. I just stayed away from the scene until I felt like I was strong enough not to do it. It helped a lot,” Jones said.
Since 2015, Jones has not picked up a drink since and has moved on from those days and is backed focus to his career.
“Now I’ve been sober for almost 16 months and now I have the best times,” Jones said. “I remember everything that happens. My friends don’t try to ever encourage me to drink or anything and they know I’m not going to. I just have the best times.”
