Chris Weidman: 'I could have very easily gone down the same wrong path as Jon Jones'

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is faced with life-changing personal and professional problems, ones that not only (temporarily) cost him his job, but may also land him in jail.

It could have very easily been Chris Weidman.

That's according to the sympathetic "All American," who told Sky Sports that he understands what "Bones" is going through, though it may also give the embattled fighter a chance to reinvent himself and come back even stronger.

His words:

"I don't judge Jon at all for struggling with life's temptations. I have tasted it myself. I've been a world champion for two years and we've got things at our fingertips that celebrities don't even have. Everybody wants to be friends with the champion of the world, so it's a tough situation to be in. Jon is going down the wrong path at the moment but I could easily have gone down that wrong path too. We're all vulnerable, and capable of doing bad things. Everybody, whether they're UFC champion or not, has their secrets. But Jon's secrets are all out. He can come back stronger because people will see a guy who has messed up but rebounded, and they will relate to that."

Weidman is running out of secrets himself.

While the "All American" gears up for a UFC 187 title defense against Vitor Belfort, Jones will prepare for his own fight -- though his will take place inside a courtroom. That's where "Bones" will have to answer for felony hit-and-run charges following last month's arrest in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

But if Jones comes back ... are you willing to give him a second chance?