With UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones being criticized recently for his drug problem, his friend and former middleweight champion Anderson Silva said that this kind of problem is "normal."

Jones recently tested positive for cocaine and spent one night in a drug rehabilitation facility when results of his tests became known to the public.

Now, Silva, who is set to return to the Octagon at the end of the month in UFC 183 versus Nick Diaz, has come to the rescue of his close friend. "First of all, Jon Jones is my friend. I like Jon Jones. He's just the young guy; he's got the problems. All the people have problems. I'm no different. I no use drugs, but I'm no different," Silva continued.

"I'm normal. All the people have problems," he was quoted by Yahoo Sports as saying.

"This is normal. This is young," he said. "Now, Jon Jones have a chance for change everything," Silva added.

According to the same report, Jones is one of the well-known names in the UFC and is already considered as one of the "best fighters of all time" though he still has difficulty winning the hearts of the people.

Silva also expressed confidence that this incident will not tarnish Jones' career saying that it will already be a thing of the past, MMA Fighting noted.

"He will be fighting again pretty soon. The important is that he learned the lesson," The Spider added.

Silva said that everyone is capable of making mistakes."Everybody makes mistakes, we have to stop criticizing him and start to support him so he can come back and become a better person than he already is. This doesn't match with who he is, a great person with millions of fans, just like me."

For Silva, Jones will be able to rise from this adversity as he is a great fighter and this experience will teach him lessons about being a professional athlete.

"He will overcome that and come back. He's too young, has too much to learn. It happens, so he can understand how important he is in this sport. It's going to be good for him to see the responsibility of being an athlete," Silva was quoted as saying in the MMA Fighting article.

Asked why he has come to the defense of Jones, Silva explained that they are already like brothers. "We have a good relationship, I have him as a young brother. Our relationship is great, I'm a fan and a close friend. I believe he will be the best of all time."

Earlier reports said that the two have finally faced each other but only for a sparring session as Jones said that he will never fight Silva because he treats him as his friend and respects him so much as a fighter.