Jon Jones admits he’s not completely sober ahead of UFC 232 - ‘I am not ready for it yet’

There was a time when former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones was very open about drinking alcohol, dabbling with cocaine and even going as far as partying the weekend before a big title fight. While “Bones” has made great strides in bettering himself over the last year — even voluntarily checking himself into a rehab-trauma center and seeing a counselor three times a week — Jones recently revealed that it is unfair to say he is 100 percent sober.

“No, I still drink and smoke pot, too, every once in a while,” he said during a recent interview in Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “I’m in a very healthy place. I mean, who knows. My coaches know I drink. Not like a crazy, crazy amount. Some weekends, mainly on the weekends.”

In addition, Jones revealed that seeing his counselor as many times as he did during the week was too much on his plate at the moment, putting the sessions momentarily on pause. But, he does intend to start up after his return bout in December. Furthermore, while Jones said that it was once a goal of his to be 100 percent sober, it’s something he can admit he isn’t ready for just yet.

“It was something I was striving for, especially going to rehab this summer. I was striving for complete sobriety. But, I am not ready for it,” Jones admitted. “It is not who I was and it’s not who I am in my life or career. And I am at a place where I can be honest with myself. But, being in there definitely matured me a lot,” he concluded while saying he found all of the help of the trauma center helpful in more ways than one and would like to spend some time in a similar facility once a year moving forward just to center himself.

During the interview, Jones claimed that he will stop drinking and smoking in the weeks leading up to his rematch against Alexander Gustafsson, which is set to go down at UFC 232 on Dec. 29, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Even though he has proven he can beat “The Mauler” after a week of going hard in the party scene ...