Jon Jones Opens Up About Failed Drug Test & Details His Rehab

We’ve heard nothing but one single statement from UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones since he failed an out-of-competition (OOC) drug test for cocaine metabolites and spent one day in a rehabilitation center.

Many were quick to criticize the champion for not taking his “recovery” as serious as he said he would, and even though UFC president Dana White initially called his failure a “great thing,” ultimately he changed his tune and fined “Bones” $25,000 for violating the UFC Code of Conduct.

Jones decided to conduct his first full interview, appearing on FOX Sports Live tonight (Mon., January 19, 2015) to finally speak out about his supposed cocaine problem. The controversial champion wanted to clarify that he wasn’t an actual cocaine addict:

“I’ve done my fair share of partying, I’d say. The whole situation has been really embarrassing. It’s like, “Cocaine, John? Really?

I had to explain to a lot of people that I’m not a cocaine addict by any mean or not even a frequent user. I just made a really dumb decision, just really got caught with pants down in this whole situation. And, uh, and, uh, no excuse for it; I can just apologize and try to do things better.”

The champion was then asked to re-iterate whether or not he had a drug problem, to which he replied:

“No, I know I don’t. My friends, and my team, and my inner circle, they all know there’s no room in my life to be a cocaine addict.”

Jones confirmed that he had indeed apologized to the UFC and several other involved parties:

“Oh yeah, absolutely, sincerely I apologized to Dana and Lorenzo, to my family, and to my brothers.”

“Bones” took a bit of a defensive stance when asked just why his failed test results were released given that cocaine was not banned out of competition:

“I really don’t. There’s a lot of questions that myself, my team, and my attorneys are trying to figure out.”

Jones even hinted that he may or may not have pending action against the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC):

“At this point I’m not going to comment on if I’m going to be taking action against those guys or not.”

With a ton of uproar over the supposed double standard of fighters who were suspended and/or released for using marijuana, Jones said that he didn’t see the double standard, but hadn’t compared the examples, either:

“I wouldn’t say there’s a double standard. I honestly haven’t done enough research to know who’s been let go.”

He also made it clear that he had never used any steroids or other PEDs:

“I have never taken any performance-enhancing drug, ever.”

Finally the elephant in the room of Jones’ reportedly ridiculous one-day stint in rehab was addressed as he opened up about it:

“Me going to rehab was, I would say it was a collective decision between myself and some of my business partners; they thought it would be good. I told them right away, I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t have a drug problem, I just got caught.’

They said if, “Jon, we don’t know if you have a drug problem or not, and uh, listen how about you got to rehab and let them decide on how healthy you are or not. I said, ’Okay, of course.’

So I went to a rehab facility where I did a 24-hour evaluation where I spoke to doctors, well three doctors, for almost seven hours, and we talked about drugs, and the role it’s played in my life, and my upbringing, and um, they came to the conclusion that I didn’t need to be an inpatient.”

Jones said that he finished the day in the rehab center. But his treatment didn’t end there, as he attends weekly counseling sessions and is randomly drug tested:

“They put me in an outpatient house and whatnot, stayed there the next day, the whole day.”

He sat me down, and he said, “Hey Jon, I really believe that you made a big mistake and you don’t need to live with us full-time, but I will continue to drug test you, and I will continue to come by your house twice a week or however often.

They continue to test me on a weekly basis, and our counseling sessions will continue to go once, twice, three times a week.”

Coming off of quite possibly his biggest win over Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on January 3, “Bones” said he was willing to put his massively successful career on hold to attend rehab if need be:

“When I went to rehab, I was willing to stay there as long as I need to be there.”

Jones also tried to relate his scenario to his listeners on a more personal level:

“I’m trying to figure out who I am, as well, but like anybody else, I have my own issues to deal with, my own insecurities, I have my life that I have to deal with just like you.

The important thing is to learn when we fall and to get back up and not beat yourself up too hard about it and to try to do things better.”

He also plans on bouncing back from the unfortunate scenario by continuing his winning ways and simply learning from his mistake:

“The best way I can come back from this is to continue being a winner and to not let things like this happen again, and just to learn. It’s not a defeat if you learn something.”

Ultimately, Jones issued a heartfelt apology to the fans that he feels he let down:

“My message to my fans is that I’m sorry, that I’m really sorry for maybe betraying their belief or just letting them down, really. I definitely have let myself down, my family, my team, the UFC, my fans down, and really is just a sincere apology.”

So Jon Jones has spoken about his controversial failed drug test and the questions that surround it, and he said all the right things. But will that get him anywhere with the fans that appeared to be slipping out of his grasp even before the surprising news was released?

Photo Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports