A temporary suspension from the famed Jackson-Wink gym has spurred Jon Jones to leave the team for greener pastures.
Through all the ups and downs through Jon Jones’ turbulent career, there has been one constant: his coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn standing behind him whenever he stepped into the cage.
That all changed after Jones’ most recent legal incident, which saw him arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery and felony tampering with a vehicle. Subsequent police reports gave more detail into those charges and those details were pretty disturbing: while responding to a call, police saw blood on Jones’ fiancé and on their hotel bed. When the cops caught up to an extremely intoxicated Jones, he headbutted a police cruiser and ‘joked’ about wanting to take on the arresting officers ‘and see what [they] could do.’
That was enough for Mike Winkeljohn to tap out. On an episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Winkeljohn said Jones was temporarily suspended from the Jackson-Wink gym.
“I just had a conversation with him. I said, ‘Jon, here’s the deal, man. You’re like my little brother. You have to stop drinking and fix these things for a certain period of time until you come back to the gym.’ So at the moment, he’s out of the gym. He’s not allowed to come to the gym because I feel I had to do that. Ignoring it and expecting different results is insanity.”
That didn’t sit well with Jones, who is now looking for a new home.
I definitely wouldn’t mind traveling a little bit and visiting a few places. You guys got any recommendations? https://t.co/SF1NPleemu
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 7, 2021
I don’t feel like I carried the team, we have lots of guys doing amazing things out of that gym. I will admit the program isn’t at the level it used to be, and hasn’t been for a while now https://t.co/hs8rAEgWz5
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 7, 2021
definitely won’t be going back but I will continue to root for all the fighters that are training there. I do believe my training methods and sessions have improved significantly since changing environments. Grateful for all the time I got to spend there, everything has its time
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 7, 2021
“Definitely won’t be going back but I will continue to root for all the fighters that are training there,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “I do believe my training methods and sessions have improved significantly since changing environments. Grateful for all the time I got to spend there, everything has its time.”
I know I won’t be able to train in my garage forever, eventually I’m going to need more training partners. Mainly wrestling partners and kickboxers. I’m on the lookout for teams that I’ll be able to visit and come train with, maybe get some sparring sessions in.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 7, 2021
“I know I won’t be able to train in my garage forever, eventually I’m going to need more training partners,” he added. Mainly wrestling partners and kickboxers. I’m on the lookout for teams that I’ll be able to visit and come train with, maybe get some sparring sessions in.”
Between the impending legal charges against him and the UFC’s current refusal to even discuss new financial terms for Jones’ much ballyhooed move to heavyweight, Jones is going nowhere fast, so he certainly has the time to explore options.
And while he did declare shortly after this latest incident that he was quitting drinking, certain other behavior from the former light heavyweight champ implies Jones still has a way to go when it comes to reigning in his more negative impulses.