What if the last day you have on earth, the person you became met the person you could have become?
It’s a heavy question, but if you are honest with yourself, it’s an excellent barometer to gauge how fulfilling and productive your life was, or could’ve been. One of the saddest things in life is seeing wasted talent, or worse yet, watching someone self-destruct right before your eyes.
This scenario seems to play itself out time and time again in sports and is an equal opportunity destroyer of lives. Take John Daly, Darryl Strawberry, and Ryan Leaf for instance. All three of these athletes wasted their careers away to varying degrees and never came close to reaching their perceived ceiling. Unfortunately, mixed martial arts (MMA) is no different when it comes to athletes wasting their careers away.
This year, the sport celebrated its silver anniversary. In that time the growing number of fighters who have squandered otherwise promising careers is staggering. We here at LowkickMMA compiled a list of the 10 fighters who wasted their careers away.
The list starts here, enjoy:
Jon Jones
We start the list off with none other than decorated-yet-troubled former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones.
Jones is still in the process of writing his story, but if history has shown us anything, it’s that athletes that continually mess up usually continue to self-destruct unless a comprehensive lifestyle intervention takes place.
“Bones” makes this list because he is perhaps the best and most recent example of an MMA fighter wasting their potential away. Once considered the unquestioned greatest of all time, Jones is, unfortunately, more likely the butt of a joke than in the running for the GOAT conversation nowadays.
Jones won the UFC light heavyweight championship on two occasions; he would also become the first fighter in company history to be stripped of the same title both times.
Couple that with “Bones” well-documented controversies that include a hit-and-run involving a pregnant woman, multiple failed drug tests, and a seemingly never-ending stream of generally head-scratching outside-the-cage trouble, and it’s no wonder Jones makes the list of fighters that wasted their careers.
It’s widely understood that in order to compete at the highest level in any sport, athletes must be supremely disciplined and make sacrifices in their personal lives to be able to perform at their best. For professional MMA fighters, it goes without saying that staying up late partying, drinking alcohol, and taking recreational drugs are […]
It’s widely understood that in order to compete at the highest level in any sport, athletes must be supremely disciplined and make sacrifices in their personal lives to be able to perform at their best.
For professional MMA fighters, it goes without saying that staying up late partying, drinking alcohol, and taking recreational drugs are things to avoid, especially in the build-up to a fight, but for some, it seems the temptation is too strong to resist.
In this article we’ll look at the lives of 10 MMA stars who became so seduced by the party lifestyle that even the daunting prospect of an upcoming fight looming large on the horizon wasn’t enough to stop them from succumbing to their base instincts, and furthermore show how this rarely lead to a happy ending in the long run.
Jon Jones
As the UFC’s light heavyweight champion and one of the sport’s all-time greats, Jon Jones appeared to have the world at his feet, but that wasn’t enough for the self-destructive star.
Though he’d had minor issues in the past, alarm bells started ringing loudly in early 2015 when Jones tested positive for cocaine just weeks prior to his UFC 182 title defense against Daniel Cormier.
His various run-ins with both the law and USADA since are well documented, but in an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Jones gave further insight into just how out-of-control his behavior had been over the years.
“I had this crazy thing that I would do where I would party one week before every fight and I did that throughout my whole career,” Jones confessed to Rogan. “…I would get blacked out wasted.
“My logic was if this guy was to beat me somehow I can look myself in the mirror and say that I lost because I got hammered the week before the fight. It was a safety net. I did it my whole career.”
The 30-year-old Jones was recently stripped of his light heavyweight title for the third time in three years after testing positive for steroids and is now facing another potentially lengthy suspension in the prime of his career.
(Tim Sylvia, in his bantamweight debut. / Photo via Getty)
UFC 182 was certainly the talk of the town this weekend, yet we couldn’t help but notice a former UFC Heavyweight Champion call it a day after going on an Arby’s world tour to train for his most recent bout.
According to The Underground, Maine’s own Tim Sylvia retired yesterday, shortly after his super-heavyweight fight against Juliano “Banana” Coutinho at Reality Fighting 53 was cancelled. Sylvia, who was planning on entering the battlefield at a whopping 371 pounds, was not cleared to fight by the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT., and thank the good Lord for that.
However, manager Monte Cox confirmed on Facebook there was a problem with his pre-fight MRI, and the bout was cancelled due to other issues apart from his weight. Nevertheless, the face-off picture of a bloated Timmeh surfaced on social media and MMA sites around the world, and that was enough for its experts to stare at it without blinking for the whole duration of the UFC 182 main card (except for the main event, of course).
(Tim Sylvia, in his bantamweight debut. / Photo via Getty)
UFC 182 was certainly the talk of the town this weekend, yet we couldn’t help but notice a former UFC Heavyweight Champion call it a day after going on an Arby’s world tour to train for his most recent bout.
According to The Underground, Maine’s own Tim Sylvia retired yesterday, shortly after his super-heavyweight fight against Juliano “Banana” Coutinho at Reality Fighting 53 was cancelled. Sylvia, who was planning on entering the battlefield at a whopping 371 pounds, was not cleared to fight by the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT., and thank the good Lord for that.
However, manager Monte Cox confirmed on Facebook there was a problem with his pre-fight MRI, and the bout was cancelled due to other issues apart from his weight. Nevertheless, the face-off picture of a bloated Timmeh surfaced on social media and MMA sites around the world, and that was enough for its experts to stare at it without blinking for the whole duration of the UFC 182 main card (except for the main event, of course).
On the tail end of a three-fight losing streak, last night would have been the 42nd time Sylvia competed in a professional MMA contest. As one of the proud Miletech boys fighting out of Bettendorf, IA., Sylvia made his debut at UFC 39, earning a TKO stoppage over Wesley “Cabbage” Correira. He would go on to win the heavyweight strap in his next fight, knocking out Ricco Rodriguez in one round at UFC 41. However, a failed post-fight drug test saw him stripped of the title after his win over Gan McGee at UFC 44.
After his arm was snapped like a wishbone courtesy of Frank Mir at UFC 48 for the vacant heavyweight title, Sylvia would lose to arch rival Andrei Arlovski shortly after, being his second unsuccessful attempt at claiming back his gold. After winning three fights in a row, “The Maine-iac” bested “The Pit Bull” to win back his title at UFC 59, and went up 2-1 in their rubber match at UFC 61. Considering their heavyweight trilogy was part of the UFC’s dark days, most fans will remember Sylvia’s title reign for the amount of times he showed up to the arena as a spectator with the belt around his waist, not to mention walking into restaurants with it on as he accompanied Matt Hughes to umpteen dosages of fried foods on UFC All Access.
Sylvia would eventually lose the belt to Randy Couture at UFC 68, and despite numerous title fights in the UFC, his loss against Pride champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would be his last one, and ultimately, his final fight inside the Octagon.
Hell, he even tried to get back into the UFC not long ago, but it wasn’t going to happen as long as UFC head honcho Dana White was pulling the strings, even though he’s still tied for most successful heavyweight title defenses.
We bid you adieu, Mr. Sylvia … but for God’s sake, lose some weight.
“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on May 19th, 2012, one year ago today. Note: We’ve placed a few more notable anniversaries at the end of this post.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Jones was involved in an accident at around 5:00 AM in Binghamton, NY. We’re told the car — which Jones crashed into a pole — was totaled and cops arrested Jones on the scene for DUI.
According to our sources, Jones was taken into custody by Broome County Sheriff and bailed out a few hours later … by his mom. Jones is from nearby Ithaca.
Fortunately for Jones, it appears that he only suffered minor injuries, and it does not appear that anyone else was injured from this accident. It is unclear whether or not there were any passengers in the car at the time of the accident.
As of this writing, Dana White’s only response to the incident has been a text to TMZ, saying “Wow, i guess its not my week is it?”. Given the week he’s had, that may be putting itmildly. Neither Jones nor his teammates will be commenting on the arrest at this time.
“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on May 19th, 2012, one year ago today. Note: We’ve placed a few more notable anniversaries at the end of this post.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Jones was involved in an accident at around 5:00 AM in Binghamton, NY. We’re told the car — which Jones crashed into a pole — was totaled and cops arrested Jones on the scene for DUI.
According to our sources, Jones was taken into custody by Broome County Sheriff and bailed out a few hours later … by his mom. Jones is from nearby Ithaca.
Fortunately for Jones, it appears that he only suffered minor injuries, and it does not appear that anyone else was injured from this accident. It is unclear whether or not there were any passengers in the car at the time of the accident.
As of this writing, Dana White’s only response to the incident has been a text to TMZ, saying “Wow, i guess its not my week is it?”. Given the week he’s had, that may be putting itmildly. Neither Jones nor his teammates will be commenting on the arrest at this time.
In and of itself, the incident isn’t too surprising: Jon Jones is a young, talented and seemingly invincible athlete. Like many other athletes in his position, Jones decided to get behind the wheel after clearly drinking too much. Or for that matter, like many of those reading this article, myself included, at one point or another. I’m not saying that drunk driving isn’t a reckless, stupid thing to do, but I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the media be harsher on Jon Jones than they would on, say, Braylon Edwards.
It will be interesting to see how this story develops. Jon Jones is the face of the UFC — and in many ways, mixed martial arts. How will the mainstream media cover this incident? How will Jones be disciplined for this? Will any of his sponsors bail on him? And how will this story be treated in the state of New York, which recently made viewing child porn legal while deeming that MMA should remain illegal? We’ll keep you up to date as more details become available.
Update: A statement from First Round Management has been forwarded to Cagepotato.com:
Note: There will be no interviews granted at this time from Jon Jones, or any of his representatives
“I can confirm that Jon Jones was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI. While the facts of this situation are still being gathered and situated, First Round Management fully supports Jon and we are asking for fans and media to respect the privacy of Jon and his family during this time.”
And finally, happy birthday to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who turns 32 today. Wait a minute…that’s how old I am. And I haven’t done shit with my life. Oh man. That’s a bummer.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Rico Rodriguez was arrested in Los Angeles, California Sunday morning for suspicion of driving under the influence, TMZ first reported. Rodriguez, an incredible 68-fight veteran inside the cage, was arrested at 1:25…
Former UFC heavyweight champion Rico Rodriguez was arrested in Los Angeles, California Sunday morning for suspicion of driving under the influence, TMZ first reported.
Rodriguez, an incredible 68-fight veteran inside the cage, was arrested at 1:25 a.m. on March 3 for misdemeanor DUI, the report says.
The only other detail currently available from the incident is that the 35-year-old was released several hours later on $5,000 bail, the article states.
TMZ also spoke with a representative for Rodriguez who said they plan on fighting the charges due to two separate blood alcohol content (BAC) readings on the breathalyzer.
“When Ricco was arrested the police officer said he blew a .1. When they had him take another breathalyzer at the station only a few minutes later he blew a .08. We are wondering how a breathalyzer dropped .02 points after a very short time.” Ricco‘s rep says they plan to fight the charges,” the unnamed rep said.
Additionally, law enforcement officials told TMZ that Rodriguez did voluntarily take two breathalyzer tests and it is “not uncommon to get slightly varying results.”
Rodriguez, a third degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, won the UFC heavyweight strap all the way back at UFC 39 in Sept. 2002 when he made Randy Couture tap to elbow strikes in the fifth round.
Boasting a 14-1 professional record at that point, his title reign was shot lived, as he lost the belt in his next fight against Tim Sylvia at UFC 41 in in Feb. 2003.
“Suave” is not the force he once was though, posting a disappointing 2-8 record in his past 10 fights.
His most recent matchup was against Ante Delija in December, losing a unanimous decision. The fight was for the House of Gladiator’s heavyweight title.
Rodriguez has not fought in the UFC since UFC 45 in Nov. 2003, where he lost a unanimous decision to Pedro Rizzo.
His last appearance in a major MMA promotion came in Aug. 2011 at Bellator 48, where he suffered a first round knockout at the hands of Seth Petruzelli.
Bellator vet Blagoi Ivanov has been placed in a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit of the Bulgarian hospital he has been recovering in since being stabbed more than six weeks ago in his homeland.
Doctors are planning to start hemodialysis on Ivanov soon in an attempt to save his kidneys from further damage. His breathing is being assisted by a respirator and he is being pumped full of a steady supply of antibiotics to ward off infection.
There’s no word on whether or not his physicians expect him to fully recover from the attack.
Bellator vet Blagoi Ivanov has been placed in a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit of the Bulgarian hospital he has been recovering in since being stabbed more than six weeks ago in his homeland.
Doctors are planning to start hemodialysis on Ivanov soon in an attempt to save his kidneys from further damage. His breathing is being assisted by a respirator and he is being pumped full of a steady supply of antibiotics to ward off infection.
There’s no word on whether or not his physicians expect him to fully recover from the attack.
Meanwhile, Blagoi’s 23-year-old assailant, who is believed to have been part of a large group of thugs armed with bats and knives that attacked Ivanov and his two companions without provocation, is being held indefinitely, charged with attempted murder.
His defense team is claiming self-defense as they say it was Blagoi provoked and slapped him, but friends of the gravely injured fighter insist Ivanov was attacked while breaking up a fight.
We’ll have more on Ivanov’s condition as we receive updates.
“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was 
