Jon Jones’ key to mixed martial arts success? A boozy training regimen, apparently.
The man known as “Bones” opened up Thursday on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast about how he used to get extremely drunk in the week leading up to his fights. Jones, who’s been in trouble several times over the years despite an impressive MMA résumé, currently is serving a one-year suspension for a failed drug test, which allegedly stemmed from a tainted sexual-enhancement pill.
“I literally would, one week before every fight. I would go out and I would get blacked out wasted,” Jones said. “And my logic was, if this guy were to beat me somehow, I can look myself in the mirror and say, the reason I lost is because I got hammered the week before the fight.”
Jones described his pre-fight partying as a “mental crutch” he used throughout his whole career. He now admits his antics were “stupid,” and his first real eye-opening experience came when he almost lost his UFC light heavyweight championship to Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165.
“I trained for the fight, but I definitely had this thing where I felt invincible,” Jones said. “And I did a lot of wild stuff leading up to the fight. I definitely didn’t give it my all. Really partying, drinking, staying up all night.”
Jones, who’s considered one of the best MMA fighters of all time, was removed from his scheduled fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 following his failed drug test, and it’s unclear what the future holds. The 29-year-old told Rogan he feels “amazing,” though, and it’s reasonable to think his turnaround began with the realization he needed to cut back on the sauce.
“My relationship with alcohol was never healthy, and I never went through a period in which I had a mature, healthy, responsible relationship with it,” Jones said.
Jones is eligible to return to action in July 2017.
Thumbnail photo via Joshua Dahl/USA TODAY Sports Images
