Cocaine sidetracked Jon Jones’ career back in the beginning of 2015. He tested positive for it prior to his UFC 182 fight with Daniel Cormier, and he subsequently spent some time in rehab for it a short time later. He was also fined $25,000 for the failed drug test.
With all of that in mind, you might think that Jones would shy away from talking about his cocaine use in the present day, but that’s actually not the case. During a UFC press conference back in May, Jones told Cormier—who he is scheduled to fight again at UFC 214 on July 29—that he beat him in January 2015 "after a weekend of cocaine." It was a pretty stunning admission and cast some doubt over whether or not Jones would be able to stay clean in the weeks leading up to his long-awaited rematch with Cormier.
And you’re going to be more doubtful than ever after you read the feature story that Bleacher Report just put together on Jones. The story focuses on all of the missteps Jones has endured over the last few years. In addition to his cocaine use, Jones was also arrested in April 2015 after he was involved in a hit-and-run accident with a pregnant woman. He was arrested the following year for allegedly drag racing and violating the terms of his probation, and he was suspended from fighting for a year in 2016 after taking what he now calls a "dick pill."
Jones addresses all of those incidents with BR, but towards the end of the piece, he also touches on his general attitude towards cocaine. And somewhat surprisingly, he still doesn’t seem to be all that against to the idea of using cocaine, despite what has happened in the past. He told BR that he’s seen people way more famous than him using cocaine, and he downplayed the effect that cocaine has on a professional athlete like himself.
"As far as me doing coke before a fight, that’s not me trying to be a bad guy," Jones said while explaining why he copped to using cocaine during his press conference in May. "That’s me frickin’ doing a bump—you know, at a party. The truth of the matter is, you’d be surprised how many people have done coke. I’ve been around some of the greatest athletes in the country. Athletes with a lot bigger names than me do coke. But people don’t talk about it. I just like to have a good time, man. If you can afford to smoke a little weed, and do a little coke, and still win world titles, who’s to tell you you can’t? I understand these things are illegal. And once you get caught doing it, it’s humiliating. But at the same time, I’m not an addict or anything like that. You don’t see me walking around weighing fucking 100 pounds with my teeth rotting out and scabs all over my face."
Jones has obviously been open about his cocaine use in the past. But it’s pretty shocking to hear him be this open, especially when he’s just two weeks away from a major fight. You can check out what else he had to say about coke and so much more here.
