Joe Rogan smoked weed with a 21-year-old Jon Jones and helped him become a UFC superstar
Jon Jones is without doubt one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the history of the sport.
A two-time UFC light-heavyweight champion, 'Bones' is currently on track to completely wipe out two different generations of contenders.
The undisputed pound-for-pound number one in the sport may well have his indiscretions and demons outside the octagon, but there is no doubting he is one of the most gifted fighters to step foot in it.
However, there was a moment in time where his career was hanging delicately in the balance and his next move was effectively 'make or break'.
Back in 2009, Jones was in Montreal as a guest at UFC 97 with Ari Shaffir - a long-time friend of UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
The prodigious talent was keen to smoke marijuana with Shaffir and the duo raced up to Rogan's room to wake him up.
After eventually convincing the stand-up comedian to let them in to smoke weed, the 2-0 fighter in the UFC then had a profound conversation which may very well have shaped the course of history.
“We also had a conversation with him about I was wanting him to go to a different camp,” . “I was like, ‘You’re too good. You should be in a real camp'.
"He was like, ‘You really think so?’ I was like, ‘I know so'.
“I go, ‘You only have a certain amount of time in this thing. Your time should be invested with a real coach who’s going to hone your skills. You could be an all-time great, man'.
"I remember telling him that. He was like, ‘You really think so?’ I was like, ‘I know so. You’ve really got to move on.'”
At the time, Jones was working out of the New York 'Team Bombsquad' at the time, but spent a brief period of time at the TriStar Gym in Montreal working under Firas Zahabi - alongside Georges St-Pierre.
But it was Albuquerque, New Mexico where 'Bones' was to set up camp for good and the 21-year-old moved to Jackson Wink MMA Camp.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“I hope [the conversation] helped,” Rogan added. “I mean, he might have done it anyway. Who knows?
"But I think it was a good conversation to have with a young guy. ‘Listen man, you have real talent. You could really be something, but you’ve got to be coached by guys who are going to find out your tendencies'.
“He was so good, who knows how far – he might have been a world champion even with the camp he was in. He was so good, and his wrestling is so powerful and he’s so physically talented, but it made a big difference, him to go to Jackson’s.”
While Jones does not have a bout booked at the moment, a move up to heavyweight to fight the terrifying Francis Ngannou is gathering serious momentum.
Should the reigning light-heavyweight champion choose to stay at 205lbs, a defence against Jan Blachowicz is a possibility, as are rematches against Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos.