The 27-year-old gets a grilling here from Charissa Thompson
2015 is only a few weeks old but we doubt there will be a bigger UFC story all year than the news that Jon Jones was found with cocaine in his system after a test in December 2014.
The news broke just days after Jones beat Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 and since then the champ hasn't been seen, even if he only spent
one day in rehab.
Last night, Jones appeared on Fox Sports for his first interview since the news broke and he was asked all the questions you would want to ask him.
First up, Jones was clear that he didn't have a cocaine problem: "My friends and family know that there's no room in my life to be a cocaine addict. "I don't know what came over me to make such a poor choice, but I did and now I have to live with it. The whole situation has been embarrassing ... cocaine is such a dirty drug .. I've had to explain to so many people that I'm not a cocaine addict -- I'm not even a frequent user. I just made a really dumb decision. I really got caught with my pants down in this whole situation and there's no excuse for it."
Jones went on to explain that he first tried cocaine in college and when asked about taking other drugs he just replied: 'I have dipped and dabbled in my share of partying'.
When asked about taking cocaine so close to a big fight Jones said: "I definitely don't have an excuse for what happened. I'm not here to make excuses. I did it. I had a party. But I think a coward would sit here and come up with this elaborate reason or try to blame something. And I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to blame my friends or pressure or stress. I'm not going to blame anything or anyone. But what I will say is 'I messed up.' It wasn't a mistake because I consciously did it."
Jones also explained his brief stint in rehab. "So I went to a rehab facility and I did a 24-hour evaluation, where I spoke to three doctors for almost seven hours," he said. "We talked about drugs and the role they've played in my life and my upbringing. They came to the conclusion that I didn't need in-patient treatment, so they put me in an out-patient house. I stayed there the next day with a bunch of different addicts. The counselor came to me at the house and he set me down and he said, 'Jon, I really believe that you made a big mistake and that you don't need to live here with us full time, but what I will do is continue to drug test you and to come by your house twice a week, or however often."
He also denied ever taking a performance enhancing drug.
Jones, who was fined $25,000 by the UFC for the failed test, will continue to see counsellors and he will be tested weekly for drugs.
The full interview is well worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8A6F5XOTl8#t=12
