Holly Holm’s coach thinks Cris Cyborg needs to stay clean for a year before they fight

Mike Winkeljohn has some strong opinions about Cris Cyborg and steroids, and doesn’t want his fighters to face her.

Even though Holly Holm didn’t win her fight with Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208 (or at least not yet pending an appeal with NYSAC), her team at Jackson-Winkeljohn are still looking ahead to future clashes at 145 pounds, which obviously brings up the specter of Cris Cyborg.

Whenever Cyborg’s name tends to come up, we’ve noticed a trend of fighters humming and hawing about stepping into the cage with her. It’s more of the same here, with Holly’s coach Mike Winkeljohn telling Submission Radio he’d like to see Cyborg stay clean for a year before he has one of his fighters face her.

“Well you know, things are obvious,” Winkeljohn said when asked about potential PED use by Cyborg. “And people are always worried about hurting people’s feelings, but if you look at her over her career, her body did change as time went on. There’s a reason why it changed. That’s it. It’s black and white. Let’s not lie about it, let’s not be politically correct. It’s not about hurting feelings. So now it’s not just that they’re on things and they get the fight time, but density has changed, structures have changed of your body, bone structure has changed. These things are effected by cheating and we can’t go back, but at least let’s go with keeping things clean for a year so at least the muscles are not getting enhanced as such. I think it’s only fair. it’s simple and I’m sick and tired of worrying about hurting people’s feelings.”

“I would recommend [Holly] probably not take [a Cyborg fight] until Cyborg is suspended for a year, because you never know what you’re going to get and you never know behind the scenes who’s getting tested and who’s not. … People need to be clean to make people fight on a fair level playing field, and I think before Holly were to fight Cyborg she needs to do that.”

Well, you actually do know behind the scenes who is getting tested and who isn’t, because it’s all on USADA’s public website. According to its Athlete Test History Database, Cyborg has been tested 14 times since USADA came along last year, which is a pretty solid number of tests. Later in the Submission Radio interview, Mike Winkeljohn lauds Holm for being tested 17 times and even goes so far as to suggest it’s because USADA holds a grudge against her for knocking out Ronda Rousey. Yet, we’ve got Cyborg here with three less tests and she’s still assumed to be dirty?

I suppose that’s what you’re going to get when you look the way Cyborg looks. It doesn’t help that she also tested positive for steroids back in 2012. This more recent second drug test failure will forever come up when people question how clean she is, but USADA seems to be on their way to clearing her of any real cheating. And at a certain point, if you’re still going to question a fighter that’s been tested as much as Cyborg, then what’s the point of all this elaborate testing anyways?

Mike Winkeljohn has some strong opinions about Cris Cyborg and steroids, and doesn’t want his fighters to face her.

Even though Holly Holm didn’t win her fight with Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208 (or at least not yet pending an appeal with NYSAC), her team at Jackson-Winkeljohn are still looking ahead to future clashes at 145 pounds, which obviously brings up the specter of Cris Cyborg.

Whenever Cyborg’s name tends to come up, we’ve noticed a trend of fighters humming and hawing about stepping into the cage with her. It’s more of the same here, with Holly’s coach Mike Winkeljohn telling Submission Radio he’d like to see Cyborg stay clean for a year before he has one of his fighters face her.

“Well you know, things are obvious,” Winkeljohn said when asked about potential PED use by Cyborg. “And people are always worried about hurting people’s feelings, but if you look at her over her career, her body did change as time went on. There’s a reason why it changed. That’s it. It’s black and white. Let’s not lie about it, let’s not be politically correct. It’s not about hurting feelings. So now it’s not just that they’re on things and they get the fight time, but density has changed, structures have changed of your body, bone structure has changed. These things are effected by cheating and we can’t go back, but at least let’s go with keeping things clean for a year so at least the muscles are not getting enhanced as such. I think it’s only fair. it’s simple and I’m sick and tired of worrying about hurting people’s feelings.”

“I would recommend [Holly] probably not take [a Cyborg fight] until Cyborg is suspended for a year, because you never know what you’re going to get and you never know behind the scenes who’s getting tested and who’s not. … People need to be clean to make people fight on a fair level playing field, and I think before Holly were to fight Cyborg she needs to do that.”

Well, you actually do know behind the scenes who is getting tested and who isn’t, because it’s all on USADA’s public website. According to its Athlete Test History Database, Cyborg has been tested 14 times since USADA came along last year, which is a pretty solid number of tests. Later in the Submission Radio interview, Mike Winkeljohn lauds Holm for being tested 17 times and even goes so far as to suggest it’s because USADA holds a grudge against her for knocking out Ronda Rousey. Yet, we’ve got Cyborg here with three less tests and she’s still assumed to be dirty?

I suppose that’s what you’re going to get when you look the way Cyborg looks. It doesn’t help that she also tested positive for steroids back in 2012. This more recent second drug test failure will forever come up when people question how clean she is, but USADA seems to be on their way to clearing her of any real cheating. And at a certain point, if you’re still going to question a fighter that’s been tested as much as Cyborg, then what’s the point of all this elaborate testing anyways?