Jon Jones has offered a candid reflection on his career and personal choices, saying he wishes he had never started drinking or partying during his rise in MMA.
Speaking in an interview with The Ring Magazine, the UFC star looked back on his younger years and the impact of alcohol on his life. "Well, you know, I became a little bit of a party boy when I was young," Jones said.
He went on to question how different his path might have been. "And sometimes I ask myself, ‘Jon, how much farther would you have been if you would have never started with the alcohol?’ I feel all my setbacks in life have been directly related to alcohol. And I’ve been able to achieve some amazing things and reach some pretty amazing heights. But I feel like things could have been even much, much higher if I’d have never gotten into partying."
Jones became the youngest UFC champion at 23 years old and has been a champion in two UFC divisions, with 11 total light heavyweight title defenses. Over the years, he has also had five UFC belts relinquished or stripped and three drug suspensions, along with two proven DUIs and an arrest for domestic battery on his fiancée the night of his UFC Hall of Fame induction in 2021.
After that incident, Jones publicly declared, "I have way too much trauma to consume alcohol, my brain simply can’t handle it anymore, I will leave alcohol in my past forever."
