Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
“If he had a night when he went out, you know, I could smell it. You know, you can smell booze, you can smell the weed.”
Retired UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy says he used to smell weed and booze while training with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Jones (26-1, 1NC) has had a lot of legal troubles during his successful MMA career, some of which have been drug related. The longtime light heavyweight champion, who most recently defended his title against Dominick Reyes in February, admitted back in 2016 he used to drink heavily in the lead up to his fights, so Kennedy’s comments don’t come as much of a surprise.
Kennedy told Submission Radio the criticism of Jones’ performance in his last two fights against Reyes and Thiago Santos has been warranted.
“I think it’s well deserved.” Kennedy said. “When he was like the hungry young lion and his personal life wasn’t bleeding over into his professional life, you saw a ferocious Mike Tyson-like thing, right? Then success came along, and so did money, and fame, and bad decisions, and DUI’s, and bribes, and coke, and strippers.” (Transcription via Middle Easy)
Kennedy, who retired from professional competition in 2016 following his stoppage loss to Kelvin Gastelum, said he used to feel the difference when training with Jones when he was sober compared to when he was partying. The two both train at JacksonWink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“When he’s right, I hated training with him because he was so dominant. And then when he was off, like, if he had a night when he went out, you know, I could smell it. You know, you can smell booze, you can smell the weed.”