Jon Jones explains the exact moment he hit rock bottom
When the history of mixed martial arts is told, Jon Jones may very well go down as the greatest fighter to ever put on a pair of gloves, but throughout his career he's also been defined by becoming his own worst enemy.
No man has been Jones' equal inside the Octagon, but battling his own demons has cost him personally and professionally over the past few years.
In April 2015, Jones was involved in a hit-and-run accident in New Mexico that could have easily ended with someone dead or a jail sentence that could have seen him land behind bars for several months or even years.
The accident also cost Jones his light heavyweight championship, while also breaking his streak for consecutive title defenses after eight straight wins with the belt.
So it's impossible for Jones to forget the exact moment when he finally hit rock bottom as he watched two other guys compete for his title while he was at home waiting on the courts and the UFC to decide his fate.
"The moment I realized I had to change, honestly the big moment for me was the night Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier fought for my light heavyweight championship and I saw DC walk away with it," Jones said on Wednesday at the UFC 197 open workouts. "In my mind, I beat both of those guys. I was at home with my wife and I thought to myself 'here I am, I'm possibly one of the best fighters to ever play this sport and I'm here at my house without a belt, without a sponsor, just completely wasting talent.'
"I should be at this arena in front of thousands of people, in front of millions of people at home but I'm sitting here in my kitchen watching this fight by myself with my family."
That eye-opening moment shocked Jones back to reality after he spent most of his career partying and acting like anything but one of the greatest champions to ever compete in combat sports.
Jones says that was a wake-up call that he needed to change his life or risk being remembered as one of the most flawed, tragic sports figures who threw it all away.
"That night really is what made me realize 'Jon, you are ruining something very special and it's time for you to pull your head out of your ass and do things right and really ace the rest of this story, the rest of this book'," Jones said. "So that's what I'm going to do."
Daniel Cormier celebrates the night he won the title over Anthony Johnson
To accomplish his goals, Jones not only got back on track with his training and dedication to the sport but maybe even more importantly he gave up all the vices that kept getting him into trouble.
As he approaches his return to action at UFC 197 on Saturday in Las Vegas, Jones says he's been completely clean and sober for around seven months and he's finally healthy in mind, body and spirit.
Just like his training regimen to get ready for fights, Jones is approaching sobriety with the same battle-tested mentality that got him to the title in the first place, and he knows if he keeps his mind right, he can't be beaten.
"I think I'll be around seven months sober and from what I hear, rehab or addiction is a thing you take one day at a time. As of right now, I'm doing awesome with it and I'm just really proud of myself and I hope to be an inspiration to someone else to know if I can do it, you can do it, too," Jones said.
As far as getting back the title that he never actually lost, Jones is ready to tackle that challenge as well but his quest to become the longest-reigning champion in UFC history was one of the casualties of his old lifestyle.
He was only two fights away from tying Anderson Silva's consecutive title defense streak at 10 when he was stripped of the belt and suspended from the sport.
Jones knows that was a consequence of his behavior, although he believes once his story is written, people will remember him as the best there's ever been and the title defense streak will still be his in spirit.
"At the end of the day the way I look at it is people will know, they'll know," Jones said. "If I go on for the next several years, winning championships, the argument and the records will change."
