Ryan Garcia reveals downward spiral that led to him drinking day of Devin Haney fight and arrest: ‘I f*cked up’
Ryan Garcia has spoken openly about the struggles he’s faced with mental health but his downward spiral before and after his fight against Devin Haney nearly ended in disaster.
The now 26-year-old fighter put on arguably the most dazzling performance of his career when he scored multiple knockdowns on Haney before earning a majority decision on the scorecards. Sadly, that win was taken away after Garcia tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine and the result was changed to a no-contest before he was ultimately handed a one-year suspension from the sport.
Even before all that happened, Garcia was abusing alcohol regularly but then the aftermath of that fight put him on a path of self-destruction.
“I was going through a divorce, I was going through a bunch of things that were going on in my life that it was hard for me to cope with,” Garcia told Ring Champs. “I f*cked up in that regard.
“I had my problems before the fight and then that shit just carried on past the fight. To the point where I ended up getting arrested at the Waldorf, just doing a lot of shit that wasn’t good.”
Back in June 2024, Garcia was arrested and initially charged with misdemeanor vandalism after he smashed up a hotel room at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Beverly Hills. The charges were eventually dismissed after he agreed to pay around $15,000 in restitution for the damage done to the hotel.
Garcia admits that was one of his darkest days after he was already drowning in a sea of alcohol abuse, which plagued him before and after his fight against Haney.
“I was in a whole different universe to be honest,” Garcia said. “I’m surprised I’m here right now. I was drinking everyday. Every single day. Even the day of the fight. Day of the fight, I just got so involved in just trying to cope with whatever was going on inside. Like I said, I’ve been struggling mentally for years and it just wouldn’t stop for me.
“I decided to take a bunch of shrooms, something I was doing already, but this time I took too many. I kind of just lost it. I can’t really say anything else. I ended up breaking everything in the [hotel] room. I really don’t remember. I was drunk and f*cked up.”
The arrest was one of the catalysts that forced Garcia to realize he needed help to make some massive changes in his life or he might soon become a cautionary tale about fame and fortune gone horribly wrong.
“I was doing everything: gambling, drinking, women, anything I wanted to do,” Garcia said. “Just destroying my soul. Destroying my spirit. It really took a toll on me.
“Turning point was realizing like damn, I’m f*cking my life up. Getting arrested was a big part of it. Almost losing my kids was a huge part of it.”
Garcia says his parents desperately tried to get him to seek help for his growing list of problems, but he largely ignored their pleas.
“They wanted me to get help,” Garcia revealed. “They were trying to get help for me as best as they can but when you’re in that state, you ain’t listening.
“When you have everything you want at your disposal, it’s not for everybody. I have an addictive personality so when I got going, I got going. Just took it to a whole other place.”
Thankfully, Garcia was able to finally turn things around after hitting rock bottom but he knows it’s an everyday struggle to stay on the straight and narrow.
While he admits that he may have surrounded himself with some of the wrong people, Garcia doesn’t want to push off his mistakes on anybody else.
In fact, Garcia is adamant that all of the responsibility falls back on his shoulders and he’s continuing to take ownership of his actions outside the ring.
“I personally don’t like to blame nobody, that’s just me,” Garcia said. “I take responsibility. The blame is definitely on me.”