Sean Sharaf Details His Struggles With Weed Addiction

Sean Sharaf's MMA journey has been anything but straightforward. From being $600k in debt to suffering back-to-back losses in the UFC, not many banked on 'The Smoke' to deliver such an emphatic knockout at UFC 331. Beyond the MMA spotlight, however, Sharaf recently touched upon a particularly heavy chapter in his life.

Sean Sharaf Gets Candid on Dealing With Depression

In a recent interview with UFC great Demetrious Johnson for the Mighty Cast podcast, the MMA heavyweight shed light on his life before he made his pro debut and the struggles that marked his long-held ambition. 

As a former U.S. Marine, Sharaf knows a thing or two about discipline. However, as debt piled up and COVID hit, the American found himself drawn back to his old ways. 

"I went to like a very deep depression," Sharaf told DJ. "When all this stuff happened with COVID and when all that happened, I reverted back to my old ways of smoking weed."

As the UFC fighter noted, he had been smoking, drinking, and doing drugs since he was 13 or 14. Considering his extremely emotionally turbulent childhood, marked by severe bullying and his father's demise, it's not difficult to understand why that may have been the case. 

Although joining the Marines helped him leave that burden in the past, the pandemic reopened those wounds.

"I completely changed my life to become this United States Marine. But then COVID came around and I just opened Pandora's box, man."

The Smoke even worked in the cannabis industry during that time to make ends meet, after options and stock trading failed to make a considerable difference. Despite these adversities, it was not long before Sharaf debuted his pro career on a high note. 

Sean Sharaf Pushes Through Adversities to Make a Smoking Debut

The heavyweight already had two amateur knockouts on his resume when he made his pro move. Facing Bruno Casillas for Fight Club OC, the TKO stoppage came at 1:10 of just the first round, cementing his name as an emerging MMA fighter. 

However, when it should have catapulted his long-time MMA dream, Sean Sharaf instead came close to considering quitting the sport. The Smoke realised the bouts weren't worth running himself to the ground with accumulating debt. Having no sponsors and a payday that barely made a dent in that debt compounded his struggles. With that came nearly a two-year hiatus, during which he continued working in the cannabis industry. 

Eventually, Sharaf returned to pick up three more wins in the pro circuit before catching UFC boss Dana White's attention. While the first two fights definitely smeared his reputation inside the promotion, Sharaf had seen more than enough to let that derail his UFC dreams.

Sharaf’s latest knockout victory suggests that the long road back may finally be paying off.