Tag: Interview

Jon Jones’s Striking Coach Mike Winkeljohn Explains Why Greg Jackson Was Kicked Out of Corner at UFC 165


(Winkeljohn says that Jackson’s absence didn’t affect their fighter’s performance too much, but “it could have ended up a lot worse.” / Photo via Getty)

By Elias Cepeda

A video emerged this week showing a controversial moment during Jon Jones‘s title-defense against Alexander Gustafsson, but it was what could be heard in the video, not seen, that raised some eyebrows. In the background, the voice of what would seem to be an athletic commission official asks another man what his name is.

That man answered, “Greg Jackson.” Jackson, of course, is well known as Jones’s head coach, but he was promptly told that his name was not on the list of approved cornermen and forced to leave the area.

CagePotato spoke with Jones’s striking coach, Mike Winkeljohn — who was also in the champ’s corner that night in Toronto, but was able to stay there for the duration of the fight — and asked him what, exactly, happened.

“Normally for title fights a fighter gets four cornermen except for in Ontario where they have always just allowed three for some reason,” Winkeljohn explained. “Heading into the fight, though, we were told that we had gotten permission to have four corners for Jon. We were all allowed to walk out and get in the corner with him and stayed there during the first round, but heading into the second round I could hear a commission inspector talking to Greg.

“I was trying to focus on the fight, on Jon, because it was a stand-up fight and I’m constantly speaking to him in code so it’s important not to have that communication disrupted. After the round, I find out that Greg was told to leave. We had permission from someone back there, but a different person — the inspector — for some reason didn’t let us. He was just doing his job as he thought he should, and you can’t blame him.


(Winkeljohn says that Jackson’s absence didn’t affect their fighter’s performance too much, but “it could have ended up a lot worse.” / Photo via Getty)

By Elias Cepeda

A video emerged this week showing a controversial moment during Jon Jones‘s title-defense against Alexander Gustafsson, but it was what could be heard in the video, not seen, that raised some eyebrows. In the background, the voice of what would seem to be an athletic commission official asks another man what his name is.

That man answered, “Greg Jackson.” Jackson, of course, is well known as Jones’s head coach, but he was promptly told that his name was not on the list of approved cornermen and forced to leave the area.

CagePotato spoke with Jones’s striking coach, Mike Winkeljohn — who was also in the champ’s corner that night in Toronto, but was able to stay there for the duration of the fight — and asked him what, exactly, happened.

“Normally for title fights a fighter gets four cornermen except for in Ontario where they have always just allowed three for some reason,” Winkeljohn explained. ”Heading into the fight, though, we were told that we had gotten permission to have four corners for Jon. We were all allowed to walk out and get in the corner with him and stayed there during the first round, but heading into the second round I could hear a commission inspector talking to Greg.

“I was trying to focus on the fight, on Jon, because it was a stand-up fight and I’m constantly speaking to him in code so it’s important not to have that communication disrupted. After the round, I find out that Greg was told to leave. We had permission from someone back there, but a different person — the inspector — for some reason didn’t let us. He was just doing his job as he thought he should, and you can’t blame him.

“Luckily, it didn’t affect the fight too much, but it could have. What Greg and I usually do anyway is, if it’s a stand up fight, I go in the cage in between rounds and if it’s a grappling one he goes in. So, Jon didn’t even notice in between rounds because he expected to see me in there with him, because the fight was happening on the feet for the most part. When Greg goes in the cage he has a calming effect on fighters so he does that and then I give some tactical advice. It could have ended up a lot worse. Greg was able to send over his thoughts and coaching to the other coaches from where he was sitting. It could have been worse but we don’t want it to happen again.”

As for the close fight itself, we asked Winkeljohn what he thought of it. On Monday I’d written that Jones finally encountered some difficulty beating an opponent with his flat-footed, one-strike-at-a-time style of fighting. Coach Winkeljohn rejected the idea that Jones always fights flat-footed and said that the champ hurt one of his feet early in the fight and it made things a lot more difficult from then on out.

“Well, Jon checked a kick in the first and hurt his foot. That made it harder for him to stay on his toes, and he fought flat-footed after that. It made it harder to get in and out of things,” the coach explained.

It looks like Gustafsson will not get the automatic rematch he’d hoped for now, but Coach Winkeljohn seemed fine with the idea when asked. “Personally, I would like to see the rematch,” he told us.

“Because I think everyone would see a different Jon Jones.”

Shakedown of the Day: Dana White is Coming For His $175K, Ken Shamrock.

(For an abridged version of White’s rant, go here. Video via FightHubTV.)

The war of words/lawsuits between Ken Shamrock and the UFC is as old as the hills that Ken Shamrock’s career went over some five (hundred) years ago, yet it continuously finds ways to entertain us in these troubled times. Ever since ShamWow was defeated by the Zuffa attorneys via first round KO back in 2008, he has not-so-silently been leading the anti-UFC crusade and occasionally ripping off smaller promotions to fund said anti-UFC crusade. His methods, which have included attempting to pay off Zuffa’s court fees with a “superfight” and joining forces with his fellow disgraced UFC fighters for a giggle session on Twitter, have produced few results to say the least.

Recently, however, UFC President Dana White decided to finally address Shamrock during the UFC 168 world tour. The moment was eerily reminiscent of Tony Montana’s final interaction with Frank Lopez.

Ken Shamrock owes ME $175,000.

(*stares directly at camera* *moves in for EXTREME CLOSE UP*)

And I’m coming for it, Ken. I’m coming for the fucking money, you piece of shit. You should have stayed wherever you were, hidden under the fucking porch somewhere.

We reached out to Shamrock for a response this morning, but unfortunately, the traffic light turned green before he could finish wiping our windows with last week’s newspaper. Keep an eye on Shamrock’s twitter account, however, as his local library will be opening its doors any minute now.

–J. Jones


(For an abridged version of White’s rant, go here. Video via FightHubTV.)

The war of words/lawsuits between Ken Shamrock and the UFC is as old as the hills that Ken Shamrock’s career went over some five (hundred) years ago, yet it continuously finds ways to entertain us in these troubled times. Ever since ShamWow was defeated by the Zuffa attorneys via first round KO back in 2008, he has not-so-silently been leading the anti-UFC crusade and occasionally ripping off smaller promotions to fund said anti-UFC crusade. His methods, which have included attempting to pay off Zuffa’s court fees with a “superfight” and joining forces with his fellow disgraced UFC fighters for a giggle session on Twitter, have produced few results to say the least.

Recently, however, UFC President Dana White decided to finally address Shamrock during the UFC 168 world tour. The moment was eerily reminiscent of Tony Montana’s final interaction with Frank Lopez.

Ken Shamrock owes ME $175,000.

(*stares directly at camera* *moves in for EXTREME CLOSE UP*)

And I’m coming for it, Ken. I’m coming for the fucking money, you piece of shit. You should have stayed wherever you were, hidden under the fucking porch somewhere.

We reached out to Shamrock for a response this morning, but unfortunately, the traffic light turned green before he could finish wiping our windows with last week’s newspaper. Keep an eye on Shamrock’s twitter account, however, as his local library will be opening its doors any minute now.

–J. Jones

Quote of the Day: Floyd Mayweather “Wants to Promote MMA Fighters” and Thinks “Dana White Is a Cool Guy”


(Mayweather, seen here wearing a jacket he swiped off his stewardess.) 

In the not-so-distant past, Floyd Mayweather has referred to MMA as a “fad for beer-drinkers” and “animals” that was started by white people who couldn’t hack it in boxing. Granted, it wasn’t an Adrien Broner-level attack on the sport (and basic human logic), but it wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement either. But now that the 36 year-old champ is fresh off his latest title defense over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, he seems to be changing his tune in regards to our beloved sport. And thank God for that (*lifts leg* *farts*).

In an interview with Fight Hype published earlier today, Mayweather revealed that he was interested in managing MMA fighters in the near future. Because if there’s anyone who could potentially put an end to this whole “MMA fighters get paid in peanuts” debate, it’s the guy who made 40 million dollars for his last fight:

I want to promote MMA fighters. You know, Al Haymon is looking to manage MMA fighters. Even though Al hasn’t came on record and said it, but I want Al to manage MMA fighters. I think I can take it to the next level. 

I don’t mind doing business with Dana White. Dana White’s a cool guy. I’ve been knowing Dana before he got involved in MMA. 


(Mayweather, seen here wearing a jacket he swiped off his stewardess.) 

In the not-so-distant past, Floyd Mayweather has referred to MMA as a “fad for beer-drinkers” and “animals” that was started by white people who couldn’t hack it in boxing. Granted, it wasn’t an Adrien Broner-level attack on the sport (and basic human logic), but it wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement either. But now that the 36 year-old champ is fresh off his latest title defense over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, he seems to be changing his tune in regards to our beloved sport. And thank God for that (*lifts leg* *farts*).

In an interview with Fight Hype published earlier today, Mayweather revealed that he was interested in managing MMA fighters in the near future. Because if there’s anyone who could potentially put an end to this whole “MMA fighters get paid in peanuts” debate, it’s the guy who made 40 million dollars for his last fight:

I want to promote MMA fighters. You know, Al Haymon is looking to manage MMA fighters. Even though Al hasn’t came on record and said it, but I want Al to manage MMA fighters. I think I can take it to the next level. 

I don’t mind doing business with Dana White. Dana White’s a cool guy. I’ve been knowing Dana before he got involved in MMA. 

Al Haymon, of course, is Mayweather’s personal advisor and a legendary boxing promoter/advisor who manages everyone from Austin Trout to Danny Garcia.

Fight Opinion recently published a fantastic article detailing the dichotomy that exists between MMA and boxing, the main point of which argues that MMA fighters in general will continue to be “underpaid” when compared to their boxing counterparts until they decide to form a fighter union or something of the like. And in order for that to happen, a strong external force — be it a politician, a rival promotion, or sports management company — would need to be introduced into the equation. Since we can cross the first two options off the list, that leaves MMA fighters with one choice: to somehow wrangle in a big name agency to essentially go to war for them. The problem is, most big name agencies simply don’t see where the money to be made in MMA is.

Not yet, at least.

With the UFC landing more network deals, original programming and broadcasting rights across more and more countries by the day, it’s become quite obvious to people like Mayweather that there is some money to be made in this sport. The question now becomes: Is Floyd Mayweather the man to give the MMA pay scale a much-needed overhaul? Probably not, but that doesn’t make the prospect of seeing some big names (and even bigger bankrolls) getting in on this MMA “fad” any less interesting.

–J. Jones

Following KO Loss to Tim Means at LFC 23 on Friday, Pete Spratt Retires, Then Unretires to Appeal Loss


(Gif of the Means/Spratt ending via MMAFighting.) 

With Bellator 99, World Series of Fighting 5 and, oh yeah, Mayweather vs. Canelo all transpiring this past weekend, you might not have heard that Legacy Fighting Championships — the quiet, unassuming, off-off-off Broadway MMA promotion to the stars — held an event as well. Despite featuring a few names that only the hardest of hardcore MMA would recognize (Richard Odoms! THE Carlos Vergara!!), LFC 23 set the stage for a couple notable moments. Mainly, Leonard Garcia picking up his second straight win since being ousted from the UFC and Pete Spratt retiring following his first round KO loss to fellow UFC vet Tim Means in the evening’s main event.

Unfortunately, while we were in the midst of drafting up another “And Now He’s Retired” article to commemorate Spratt’s departure after nearly 50 professional bouts and 15 years in the sport (!), Spratt done went and unretired. After a 48 hour retirement. Vinny Magalhaes was all like “He did *what* now?” and we were all like “Not this shit again,” but it seems that Spratt will be moving forward with his CP ban-violating decision nonetheless. Here’s why:

That was a retirement thing based on a guy who got hit in the back of the head, that was still groggy thinking about his family and that type of stuff, without having had the opportunity to review what actually happened in the fight. If I looked back at it and my skills had diminished, that would be different. But that wasn’t the case. 

Me, I was thinking I just went in there and got my butt kicked, which isn’t what happened after I watched the fight.


(Gif of the Means/Spratt ending via MMAFighting.) 

With Bellator 99, World Series of Fighting 5 and, oh yeah, Mayweather vs. Canelo all transpiring this past weekend, you might not have heard that Legacy Fighting Championships — the quiet, unassuming, off-off-off Broadway MMA promotion to the stars — held an event as well. Despite featuring a few names that only the hardest of hardcore MMA would recognize (Richard Odoms! THE Carlos Vergara!!), LFC 23 set the stage for a couple notable moments. Mainly, Leonard Garcia picking up his second straight win since being ousted from the UFC and Pete Spratt retiring following his first round KO loss to fellow UFC vet Tim Means in the evening’s main event.

Unfortunately, while we were in the midst of drafting up another “And Now He’s Retired” article to commemorate Spratt’s departure after nearly 50 professional bouts and 15 years in the sport (!), Spratt done went and unretired. After a 48 hour retirement. Vinny Magalhaes was all like “He did *what* now?” and we were all like “Not this shit again,” but it seems that Spratt will be moving forward with his CP ban-violating decision nonetheless. Here’s why:

That was a retirement thing based on a guy who got hit in the back of the head, that was still groggy thinking about his family and that type of stuff, without having had the opportunity to review what actually happened in the fight. If I looked back at it and my skills had diminished, that would be different. But that wasn’t the case. 

Me, I was thinking I just went in there and got my butt kicked, which isn’t what happened after I watched the fight.

Oh boy, the old “I was wronged” defense.

Look, we are obviously not in the place to decide whether Spratt’s skills have diminished over the years (although his barely above .500 record would seem to indicate that they have) or to declare whether Means’ elbows were illegal or not (my vote is that they weren’t. Also, I’m always right about these things). That being said, Spratt’s reasoning for unretiring seems to be based on decisions as hastily-made as the ones that led him to retire all of three days ago. If the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation doesn’t overturn the loss, does that mean that Spratt will accept that he “Got his butt kicked” and re-retire once and for all?

Again, our opinion probably means fuck-all to a pioneer of the sport like Spratt, who insists that he is still “having fun” competing in MMA at the tender age of 42:

I’m having fun with the competition and at the same time I’m still learning and enjoying testing myself against these younger guys. If I wasn’t 42, people wouldn’t be talking about me retiring, or being in the twilight of my career. I never drank, never smoked, never abused my body negatively for me to be diminishing in my skills. Which I’m not.

Currently 4-6 in his past 10 fights, we would say that “The Secret Weapon’s” best days are most certainly behind him. If he is unwilling to admit that, that’s fine. But who knows? Maybe the fact that the UFC is giving a mentally unstable B.J. Penn the keys to the gun cabinet has convinced Spratt to make another run at the big time, because who the hell is going to stop him? We just hope for his sake that it won’t take another brutal knockout loss (or series of brutal knockout losses) to remind Spratt that his original decision was the right one.

–J. Jones

World Series of Fighting 5 Report: Arlovski Beats Kyle, Branch Tops Villefort


(Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski [right] connects with a right on Mike Kyle Saturday night at WSOF 5 | Photo by Lucas Noonan/WSOF)

By Elias Cepeda

Andrei Arlovski showed resiliency for the second fight in a row Saturday night in the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) 5 event in New Jersey, this time coming away with a win. Last March, Arlovski had his jaw broken after taking extra punches from Anthony Johnson when the referee allowed the first round to go on past the bell but fought on for the duration of the bout, ultimately losing a decision.

Saturday night, the recently un-retired Mike Kyle dropped Arlovski twice, once in the first and once in the third round, but “The Pitbull” came back each time and scored enough himself to be awarded winning scores of 29-28 by all three ringside judges. Arlovski took the fight on a month’s notice after Johnson himself was injured and had to pull out of the fight with Kyle.

“It was a great fight,” Arlovski said after the bout. “[Kyle is] a top fighter, and I really appreciate him for this fight.

In the WSOF 5 co-main event, middleweight David Branch won a decision over Danillo Villefort on the strength of dominating take downs and ground grappling. With the win, Branch has earned a shot at the WSOF middleweight belt. His opponent for the inaugural middleweight title bout has not yet been announced.

In heavyweight action, Derrick Mehmen knocked out Rolles Gracie in the second round. Throughout the first round, Gracie was able to stay safe and use his grappling effectively against Mehmen but in the second stanza, his opponent connected with a clean right hand on the feet that put Rolles out in unintentionally hilarious fashion.

In a strange turn of events, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board officials called off a middleweight tournament bout between Elvis “The King” Mutapcic and Jesse “JT Money” Taylor just moments before the two were scheduled to hit the cage.

According the commission, Mutapcic took a prescription pill that had not been cleared for use.


(Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski [right] connects with a right on Mike Kyle Saturday night at WSOF 5 | Photo by Lucas Noonan/WSOF)

By Elias Cepeda

Andrei Arlovski showed resiliency for the second fight in a row Saturday night in the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) 5 event in New Jersey, this time coming away with a win. Last March, Arlovski had his jaw broken after taking extra punches from Anthony Johnson when the referee allowed the first round to go on past the bell but fought on for the duration of the bout, ultimately losing a decision.

Saturday night, the recently un-retired Mike Kyle dropped Arlovski twice, once in the first and once in the third round, but “The Pitbull” came back each time and scored enough himself to be awarded winning scores of 29-28 by all three ringside judges. Arlovski took the fight on a month’s notice after Johnson himself was injured and had to pull out of the fight with Kyle.

“It was a great fight,” Arlovski said after the bout. “[Kyle is] a top fighter, and I really appreciate him for this fight.

In the WSOF 5 co-main event, middleweight David Branch won a decision over Danillo Villefort on the strength of dominating take downs and ground grappling. With the win, Branch has earned a shot at the WSOF middleweight belt. His opponent for the inaugural middleweight title bout has not yet been announced.

In heavyweight action, Derrick Mehmen knocked out Rolles Gracie in the second round. Throughout the first round, Gracie was able to stay safe and use his grappling effectively against Mehmen but in the second stanza, his opponent connected with a clean right hand on the feet that put Rolles out in unintentionally hilarious fashion.

In a strange turn of events, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board officials called off a middleweight tournament bout between Elvis “The King” Mutapcic and Jesse “JT Money” Taylor just moments before the two were scheduled to hit the cage.

According the commission, Mutapcic took a prescription pill that had not been cleared for use.

“There were some prescriptions that weren’t given to our doctors during the physicals and that weren’t approved by us, the commission,” a commission official said. “So since we don’t know what they are and what they do, we canceled the fight.

Mutapcic insisted he hadn’t taken any pills and that the inspecting New Jersey state commission officer may have mistaken him for his manager, who is currently using medication for a heart condition.

“I really don’t know what happened, what [the inspector] saw,” Mutapcic said. “She might have been taking some medication, herself. I put in a good 10-week training camp. I worked my ass off. I know Taylor’s ready. I’m not sure if she mistaken me for my manager, who has a heart prescription. He was the one that had it. We’re all dressed the same – same T-shirt, same hat. I mean, there’s four of us, and she’s pointing me out, that I took it. I say I’ll take a blood test. I’ll give a hair sample if they need it. I’ve got nothing in my system. I’m completely clean.”

Full WSOF 5 Results

Main Card
-Andrei Arlovski def. Mike Kyle via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
-Dave Branch def. Danillo Villefort via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Derrick Mehmen def. Rolles Gracie via KO, 2:40 of round 2
-Georgi Karakhanyan def. Waylon Lowe via submission (guillotine choke), 3:37 of round 1

Preliminary Card
-Rick Glenn def. Artur Rofi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
-Jimmie Rivera def. Sidemar Honorio via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
-Richard Patishnock def. Gregor Gracie via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
-Ozzy Dugulubgov def. Andrew Osbourne via submission (achilles lock), 1:12 of round 2
-Neiman Gracie def. Darren Costa via submission (armbar), 3:57 of round 1

UFC Benevolent of the Day: Dana White Pays for Injured TUF 18 Tim Gorman’s Hamstring Surgery, Offers ‘Shot’ in Promotion


(No, that is not a lady’s hind quarters. It is Tim Gorman’s injured leg. And, some really fancy shorts. | Photo via @TimmyGormanMMA)

This week we learned that in addition to being a cocky loud mouth, The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 (TUF 18) cast member Tim Gorman, is also a committed, tough s.o.b. The male bantamweight tore a hamstring clear off before getting his chance to fight his way into the TUF house, still fought, won and looked to move through the season.

Meisha Tate and her coaching staff noticed that Gorman was hobbling around during early practices and asked him to explain, at which point he showed the results of his nasty injury (also photographed up top). Gorman was forced to get an M.R.I. scan, which confirmed that his hamstring was royally screwed and Dana White made him leave the TUF House over the fighter’s protests. Which, of course, led to this freeloading no goodnik getting another chance.

During a google hangout Thursday White told fans that Gorman will also get another chance in the UFC, however. “The kid’s a nutball, he’s a lunatic,” Uncle Dana said. “I like that, that’s not a bad thing. He wanted to continue to fight, I respect that. He’ll get another shot in the UFC, we’ll give him a shot.”

Great news for Gorman. Even better, Timmy went on The Underground forum and wrote that White personally paid for his much-needed hamstring surgery. The UFC’s health insurance policy didn’t cover Gorman’s medical procedures because they were treatment for a “pre-existing” condition, ie. he hurt himself before he stepped into the Octagon or UFC Training Center.

Gorman’s UG post below:


(No, that is not a lady’s hind quarters. It is Tim Gorman’s injured leg. And, some really fancy shorts. | Photo via @TimmyGormanMMA)

This week we learned that in addition to being a cocky loud mouth, The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 (TUF 18) cast member Tim Gorman, is also a committed, tough s.o.b. The male bantamweight tore a hamstring clear off before getting his chance to fight his way into the TUF house, still fought, won and looked to move through the season.

Meisha Tate and her coaching staff noticed that Gorman was hobbling around during early practices and asked him to explain, at which point he showed the results of his nasty injury (also photographed up top). Gorman was forced to get an M.R.I. scan, which confirmed that his hamstring was royally screwed and Dana White made him leave the TUF House over the fighter’s protests. Which, of course, led to this freeloading no goodnik getting another chance.

During a google hangout Thursday White told fans that Gorman will also get another chance in the UFC, however. “The kid’s a nutball, he’s a lunatic,” Uncle Dana said. “I like that, that’s not a bad thing. He wanted to continue to fight, I respect that. He’ll get another shot in the UFC, we’ll give him a shot.”

Great news for Gorman. Even better, Timmy went on The Underground forum and wrote that White personally paid for his much-needed hamstring surgery. The UFC’s health insurance policy didn’t cover Gorman’s medical procedures because they were treatment for a “pre-existing” condition, ie. he hurt himself before he stepped into the Octagon or UFC Training Center.

Gorman’s UG post below:

“Yeah Dana and TUF producers went beyond what they should have to make me feel welcome from the start and after I was sent home. My hamstring was torn off the bone the week of the fight (so yes, I fought to get in the house like that), so they couldn’t cover a pre-existing injury. They were so nice even after my injury fucked their show up. Being on that show meant the world to me but the way they treated me made the whole experience lifechanging. I could go on for days with true genuine nice things about TUF producers (Jamie and Gary), Dana, Sean Shelby and everyone else including the the camera guys.

Anyone talking shit about Dana or anyone behind the scenes with UFC or TUF is a piece of shit liar or they did something to UFC/TUF and got what they deserved.

When I thought my life was over and couldn’t even afford to pay the medical bills, they kept me positive and paid for everything out of their own pocket when my manager or I didn’t tell them I didn’t have the money.

They have more heart than they do anything and anyone who says different is a fool.”

We may never find out if a woman can submit lil Timmy Gorman but it’s great news that neither he nor the UFC are letting his nasty hamstring injury KO him. We can’t imagine staying conscious through the type of pain he must have felt with his torn hamstring, much less fight and win in the UFC Octagon.

Yes, he’s obnoxious. But also, the kid’s got guts. And talent. Now he’ll get a second chance to show both in the UFC.

– Elias Cepeda