Jon Jones reveals he used to get 'black out drunk' before every fight

Jon Jones made a startling admission about his alcohol abuse during his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience. The former light heavyweight champion is currently serving a suspension for failing a drug test prior to his UFC 200 fight and decided to deliver a tell-all interview with Rogan that revealed some interesting things about Jones.

Perhaps the most shocking thing about the two-hour interview was Jones revealing that he used to get “black out drunk” before all of his fights.

“I had this crazy thing that I would do where I would party one week before every fight,” Jones said. “And I did it throughout my whole career. And it was stupid, but it was this mental crutch that I had.”

Jones said he would drink and party all night, deprive himself of sleep and essentially do everything wrong so that he would have a built in excuse just in case he ever lost.

“I literally would, one week before every fight,” Jones said. “I would go out and I would get blacked out wasted. 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.”

It almost caught up to him when he faced Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 and was pushed to the brink by the Swedish fighter in a showdown recognized as his most difficult challenge to date. Jones ended up winning a narrow decision but realized that perhaps something would need to change.

“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.”

However, Jones self-destructive process continued and caught up with him outside of the cage when he was involved in a hit and run back in 2015 that resulted in his first suspension and subsequent stripping of the UFC light heavyweight title. That was the wakeup call he says he needed and decided to sober up.

“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 that he abstained from partying and drinking before his return fight against Ovince Saint Preux for the interim title at UFC 197. Surprisingly, he doesn’t believe his performance was any better because of it.

“The first fight I did not (party and drink), it was my worst performance,” Jones said.

With his suspension ending next July, Jones said that there will be a new Jon Jones returning to the Octagon in 2017. Still under the age of 30, Jones believes that he’ll right his previous wrongs and the best Jon Jones will finally arrive.