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Anthony Smith knows what Jon Jones is going through right now because he has been in the same place not so long ago.
In the wake of the Light Heavyweight Champion's third-time arrest, Smith said to MMA Fighting in an interview that nothing can change Jon Jones unless he himself decides to alter his ways.
Smith has walked in Jones' shoes
Jones was arrested recently for charges of DWI, negligence with firearms and possession of open container. Smith was in the same situation before he was a top-ranked UFC fighter, getting into multiple DWIs and serving jail time. but he turned things around after hitting rock bottom one time and ending up in a hospital bed.
There have been suggestions of jail time and title stripping as measures to be taken against Jones for such demeanor. But Smith thinks nothing will make a difference until he wants to change.
"It doesn’t matter what punishments you get, how much jail time you do, it doesn’t matter who leaves your side, it doesn’t matter fines you get, it doesn’t matter how many times you lose your title, it doesn’t matter how many sponsors leave you and it doesn’t matter what people say about you... Until he’s done doing the things he does, he’s not going to change. I know that for a fact because I was Jon Jones."
Until that happens, the same cycle will go on where he gets arrested, apologizes, fights and win, and will go back to the bottom within a year, said Smith. He believes Jones needs to hit his rock bottom to fix his ways. For Smith, the fact that his arrest is not even a big deal anymore to fans and fellow fighters should be the rock bottom.
"When you get to a point where you get arrested for another DWI and you’re firing off a firearm when it happens and no one is shocked and it’s not even that big of a news story anymore, I think you’ve irreparable damage... I think that’s the nail in the coffin for Jon. The fact that no one was surprised and it wasn’t that big of a deal, I think that’s the bigger issue."
Smith thinks action is better than words
Smith said simply apologizing for his actions is never going to be enough, Jones will have to make them a reality.
"It doesn’t matter what Jon Jones says. It matters what Jon Jones does. What he says and what his actions are, are two completely different things.
Smith clarifies that despite being a same-division competitor, he takes no joy in his downfall and is not pointing fingers at the Champion. It's only because he has seen the other side of this coin, that he knows what kind of trouble Jones is into.
I" don’t give a sh*t what he says. I care about what he does and I’m not rooting against Jon Jones here... I hope Jon figures it out only because I’ve been there before and I know what the other side of that fence looks like and he’s stuck on the wrong side of it now."
