Jon Jones has sent a message loud and clear to his former coach Mike Winkeljohn: tread lightly.
In October, one of Jon Jones’s longtime coaches at JacksonWink MMA, Mike Winkeljohn, made the decision to ban Jones from the gym due to the domestic vio…
Jon Jones has sent a message loud and clear to his former coach Mike Winkeljohn: tread lightly.
In October, one of Jon Jones’s longtime coaches at JacksonWink MMA, Mike Winkeljohn, made the decision to ban Jones from the gym due to the domestic violence charges he is currently facing.
After a delayed period, Jones went absolutely scorched earth on his former coach, branding the man a “miserable bastard” and implying that he is a hypocrite for allowing a convicted rapist to train in the gym yet take such a strong stance against him.
Winkeljohn has not yet offered any public response to Jones, but just in case he gets any ideas, Jones issued a preemptive warning Thursday in a since-deleted tweet.
“I’m waiting for Wink to make a statement and try to deny any of my allegations, I’ll hit you guys with some more news. Some real juicy shit,” Jones vowed.
In another deleted tweet, Jones accused Winkeljohn of threatening to ban any gym member who trained with Donald Cerrone, another disgruntled ex-Jacksonwink MMA member. Jones stated that such childish and bitter behavior is affecting the livelihood of others, even though how they spend their time away from the gym do not directly concern Winkeljohn.
After exiting JacksonWink MMA, Jones has been spending time over in Arizona at Fight Ready, primarily under the mentorship of Henry Cejudo. Jones also recently announced that he would be training at a JacksonWink affiliate gym led by another longtime coach, Greg Jackson. It is unclear whether those plans have changed in light of this newfound feud with Winkeljohn or Jones’s increased time at Fight Ready.
Jon Jones last competed in February 2020 in the final defense of his light heavyweight championship against Dominick Reyes. Jones is now expected to debut in the heavyweight division in 2022. But first, he’ll have to answer for the aforementioned domestic violence charges, beginning with a court date scheduled for January 31.
What do you make of Jon Jones’s warning to Mike Winkeljohn?
Jon Jones’ separation from Jackson Wink initially was going very smoothly with neither party holding any resentment or bad blood. That was still true up until yesterday when Jones went to social media to call out former coach Mike Winkeljohn for harassing the coaches who continue to work with him. “Coach Wink gets on national […]
Jon Jones’ separation from Jackson Wink initially was going very smoothly with neither party holding any resentment or bad blood. That was still true up until yesterday when Jones went to social media to call out former coach Mike Winkeljohn for harassing the coaches who continue to work with him.
“Coach Wink gets on national TV and tells the world he wants the best for me, and then behind the scenes harassing the other coaches for continuing to work with me. What a miserable bastard”
However, Jones wouldn’t stop there, just a few hours later he posted a series of tweets once again calling out his former coach.
“This dude somehow has found a way to run away every single one of Greg’s original fighters. I can’t think of a Jackson’s veteran that still talks with this ass whole”
“I didn’t leave the team because I couldn’t handle a punishment, I left the gym because I wasn’t training with Wink anymore anyways. This man hasn’t taught the students a new technique since I met him.”
“What type of friend gets on national TV and airs his “brothers” dirty laundry, this was his opportunity to take a moral high ground over someone who trust in him. He didn’t give two shits about what actually happened that night. Anything anything for some publicity”
“If I was such a monster, he wouldn’t be still trying to monetize off of me being a former student there. There’s a John Jones poster in almost every wall in that building.”
“Wink suspending me from the team changed absolutely nothing for me. I’m still working with the same exact coaches on the same exact schedule we have been on over the last two years.”
“Just don’t go on tv and pretend to give a shit about someone who has made you so much money over the years, giving you so many world championships, and then behind closed door secretly try to crush them. Real Douche bag move Mike”
Jones’ final tweet was probably the most shocking of all going on to state how Jackson Wink had a convicted rapist training under them for years at the same time as Jones.
“We literally had a convicted rapist training on the team for years and now all of a sudden he has morals. Get out of here”
Winkeljohn is yet to respond to the comments made by Jones who has since deleted the tweets.
What’s Next For Jon Jones?
Jon Jones hasn’t been inside the octagon since his victory over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 and given the jump required to make for Jones to compete at heavyweight it is unlikely we will see Jones compete at least until the middle of 2022. The UFC did try to schedule Jones in a super fight against Francis Ngannou, however, issues with pay meant that Jones wouldn’t accept the fight and go on to relinquish his light heavyweight championship. Former Champion Stipe Miocic has offered to welcome Jones to the heavyweight division whilst he also awaits his rematch with Ngannou.
Who would you like to see Jon Jones make his Heavyweight debut against?
Winkeljohn made this announcement publicly appearing on The MMA Hour, saying he had no other choice because he is the father of three daughters, has other loved females in his life, and he teaches a women’s self-defense class.
“Had a heartbreaking conversation over the phone with one of my longtime coaches last night, really hurts to lose the support of someone I respect so much. Sincere thank you to the rest of the coaches for staying in the fight with me. Our journey continues..” the since-deleted tweet read.
Jones would have much more to say Wednesday night and with much less of a filter.
Jon Jones Unloads On “Miserable Bastard” Mike Winkeljohn
Jon Jones, Mike Winkeljohn
Wednesday evening, Jon Jones released the following tweets addressing his ban from JacksonWink MMA in October.
Coach Wink gets on national TV and tells the world he wants the best for me, and then behind the scenes harassing the other coaches for continuing to work with me. What a miserable bastard
“Coach Wink gets on national TV and tells the world he wants the best for me, and then behind the scenes harassing the other coaches for continuing to work with me. What a miserable bastard.”
This dude somehow has found a way to run away every single one of Gregs original fighters. I can’t think of a Jackson’s veteran that still talks with this ass whole
“This dude somehow has found a way to run away every single one of Gregs original fighters. I can’t think of a Jackson’s veteran that still talks with this ass whole”
I didn’t leave the team because I couldn’t handle a punishment, I left the gym because I wasn’t training with Wink anymore anyways. This man hasn’t taught the students a new technique since I met him.
“I didn’t leave the team because I couldn’t handle a punishment, I left the gym because I wasn’t training with Wink anymore anyways. This man hasn’t taught the students a new technique since I met him.”
What type of friend gets on national TV and airs his “brothers” dirty laundry. That was his opportunity to take a moral high ground over someone who trust in him. He didn’t give two shits about what actually happened that night. Anything anything for some publicity
“What type of friend gets on national TV and airs his “brothers” dirty laundry. That was his opportunity to take a moral high ground over someone who trust in him. He didn’t give two shits about what actually happened that night. Anything anything for some publicity.”
If I was such a monster, he wouldn’t be still trying to monetize off of me being a former student there. There’s a John Jones poster in almost every wall in that building.
“If I was such a monster, he wouldn’t be still trying to monetize off of me being a former student there. There’s a John (sic) Jones poster in almost every wall in that building.”
Wink suspending me from the team changed absolutely nothing for me. I’m still working with the same exact coaches on the same exact schedule we have been on over the last two years.
“Wink suspending me from the team changed absolutely nothing for me. I’m still working with the same exact coaches on the same exact schedule we have been on over the last two years.”
Just don’t go on TV and pretend to give a shit about someone who has made you so much money over the years, giving you so many world championships, and then behind closed doors secretly try to crush them. Real douche bag move Mike
“Just don’t go on TV and pretend to give a shit about someone who has made you so much money over the years, giving you so many world championships, and then behind closed doors secretly try to crush them. Real douche bag move Mike.”
“We literally had a convicted rapist training on the team for years and now all of a sudden he has morals. Get out of here.”
As of this writing, that is where Jones’ Twitter onslaught against his former coach ends. It’s also worth noting that the above tweets may soon be deleted based on Jones’s prior Twitter habits.
Jon Jones has found a new, yet familiar home to train out of.
Jones has been training with Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn for the vast majority of his MMA career, being a big reason for the notoriety and fame of the gym. However, that all change…
Jon Jones has found a new, yet familiar home to train out of.
Jones has been training with Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn for the vast majority of his MMA career, being a big reason for the notoriety and fame of the gym. However, that all changed after his latest run-in with the law that saw him accused of domestic violence. Winkeljohn then revealed that he made the decision to ban the former light heavyweight champion from the gym until he is sober and able to get his life on track.
Last week, Jones said that he made the decision that, no matter what happens, he will not be returning to Jackson-Winkeljohn in the future.
I definitely wouldn’t mind traveling a little bit and visiting a few places. You guys got any recommendations? https://t.co/SF1NPleemu
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
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
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.
“I definitely wouldn’t mind traveling a little bit and visiting a few places. You guys got any recommendations?” Jones wrote, before adding in subsequent tweets:
“I don’t feel like I carried the team (at Jackson-Wink), 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.
“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,” Jones continued.
“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.”
Jon Jones Announces New Membership With Gym
Today, Jones announced where he will be training moving forward, Jackson’s MMA Acoma, a gym affiliated with Coach Greg Jackson.
“I want to sincerely thank Gym owner/ coach Nick Urso and everyone at the original Jackson’s MMA program for allowing me to call their dojo my new home base. I was so proud to see the condition of the gym, it was so well taken care of and the energy felt amazing exactly the way it was before. It has wonderful memories of my time learning from GSP, Sugar Evans, The dean of mean and so many more. I won my first world title out of this gym. I am grateful to have this comfortable place for both my local and visiting training partners to come enjoy. The best is yet to come!”
Few can argue with the idea that Jones will almost certainly benefit from a change in training environment. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here. Jones is expected to make his heavyweight debut in the first quarter of 2022.
In his own words, Daniel Cormier has a man-to-man message for past nemesis Jon “Bones” Jones. Earlier this week, a former American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) teammate of Daniel Cormier, Luis Peña, was released from the UFC following a second domestic violence charge this year. The details behind this latest incident were particularly troubling, so much […]
In his own words, Daniel Cormier has a man-to-man message for past nemesis Jon “Bones” Jones.
Earlier this week, a former American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) teammate of Daniel Cormier, Luis Peña, was released from the UFC following a second domestic violence charge this year. The details behind this latest incident were particularly troubling, so much so that the promotion felt they had to take swift action in their decision to part ways. That led many to question why that same move wasn’t applied to Jon Jones, who has also had multiple run-ins with the law and who was also just hit with a domestic violence charge.
“We saw Luis Peña get cut from the UFC because of his interactions with his girlfriend—and rightfully so,” Cormier began. “And Luis is a guy that I know. But when he’s having these issues, I feel like the right decision was made. That leads us to my ‘friend’ Jon Jones.”
A brief smirk appeared on Cormier’s face after the utterance of the word ‘friend.’ As the MMA community well knows, Cormier and Jones have been anything but friendly, even before Cormier signed with the UFC in 2015.
The longstanding feud between the two has been evident backstage, in press conferences, virtual interviews, social media—pretty much any platform you can think of. In this video, Cormier appeared to make a conscious decision to put all that aside and speak candidly on this very sensitive subject.
Cormier: Jones Now At A Turning Point After Recent Fallouts & Conflicts
Jeff Bottari / Zuffa
Cormier began by addressing Jones’ longtime coach Mike Winkeljohn’s decision to ban “Bones” from the team. Cormier believes that for it to get to the point where longtime allies are beginning to part with Jones, that is an indication of the seriousness at play here. Jones reacted after Winkeljohn’s decision was made public, stating that it was “heartbreaking” to lose the support of someone he respects so much.
“Had a heartbreaking conversation over the phone with one of my longtime coaches last night, really hurts to lose the support of someone I respect so much. Sincere thank you to the rest of the coaches for staying in the fight with me. Our journey continues..” Jones wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
Cormier viewed the tweets as well as the police report, and he took the time to share how he is processing all the information at his disposal.
“Now I’m not in the business of assumptions,” Cormier began. “One thing he did try to clarify on Twitter was that he didn’t hit his fiancée. When you listen to the police call, it sounded like the security guards and the police report think that he hit his fiancée.
“I think the scariest thing is what Coach Wink said again today. It makes me sad that his daughters said, ‘Call the police.’ That’s a thing that saddens you. With all those little things, you gotta think, it doesn’t matter who you are, what kind of person you are. Those things have to really make you look within yourself and make a decision. Because no one’s perfect. But at a point, you gotta make a decision for not only you, for your daughters, for your fiancée, for your family, for everything. And I think right now’s that time.”
Cormier went on to state that after longtime allies like Winkeljohn and former manager Malki Kawa have parted with Jones, this signals the turning point the embattled UFC great is currently situated at.
“But the scariest part about this is in these moments when people who have issues start to lose the closest allies, it can go one of two ways,” Cormier said. “One way, they could go to the top and get their shit together, or they can actually just plummet. So I think it’s gonna be very important for the people that are closest to Jones to really try to help him decide and figure how he’s gonna go forward. Because this is that slippery slope.”
As someone on the outside looking at the paths of two men he is very familiar with: one a past acquaintance, the other a past nemesis, Cormier is admittedly a very invested observer.
“I’m very interested to see what comes of this. I’m very interested to see what a 34-year-old Jones does opposed to a 26-year-old Jones. I’m interested to see what happens to a Luis Peña.
“These guys are playing a dangerous game. And it seems as though, right now, they’re losing. And in a world where all of that behavior is completely unacceptable, you deserve to lose.”
“So big moment in these two men’s careers. I wonder how they bounce back from them. You can have all the talent in the world. And we know that Jones does. But if you can’t get those ducks in a row, none of that even matters.
Daniel Cormier Delivers “Man To Man” Message To Jon Jones
In the YouTube video, Cormier expressed his bewilderment at Jones’ constant attempts to tweet away “explanations” and “answers” whenever he’s made an epic mistake. Particularly, he doesn’t know who or what is guiding Jones to do so. There was one mentor figure who Cormier credited, however. He praised Winkeljohn’s decision to ban Jones from the gym, as he believes gestures like that are ultimately what it’s going to take for Jones to look in the mirror.
As Jones prepares to do that, DC expressed that he has no desire to kick a man when he is down. He says the trash talk between the two over the years was always when they were both on equal standing. Now that Jones appears to be at rock bottom, Cormier instead took the time to deliver a straight-up, man-to-man message to his former foe.
“So from me to this guy: We’ll never be friends. But human to human, you gotta get your shit right. And show some remorse. Show some remorse. Before you hit that send button on those tweets, you gotta think about what you’re saying. Because it seems as though you tell yourself so many lies that you start to believe ’em. Don’t lie to yourself. Surround yourself with people that are gonna tell you the truth and then find some answers. Because otherwise, it’s gonna be done. And it’s close. It’s close to actually being done. It’s close to being done.
Jon “Bones” Jones
“So from day one: Great fighter, horrible person. And the actions that are starting to show themselves today, fuck everything else: steroids, the partying—all that other shit, the fight with the stripper, all that—forget all that. When you start doing that to the family and then the kids gotta watch that? Pfft, shame on you, my man. Get that shit right, dawg. Seriously. Man to man. Get that shit right.”
You can listen to Cormier’s full remarks in the video below.
Coach Mike Winkeljohn has shunned Jon Jones from the gym, following his most recent legal issues. Jones has been a mainstay at the Jackson-Winkeljohn gym in Albuquerque, NM for many years. They have been a big part of making him one of the greatest fighters of all time, no matter what Dana White might think […]
Coach Mike Winkeljohn has shunned Jon Jones from the gym, following his most recent legal issues.
Jones has been a mainstay at the Jackson-Winkeljohn gym in Albuquerque, NM for many years. They have been a big part of making him one of the greatest fighters of all time, no matter what Dana White might think about the coaching staff.
However, following Jones’s most recent arrest for domestic violence charges, he is no longer allowed to train at this gym. Coach Mike Winkeljohn spoke on The MMA Hour and explained that he had a conversation with the former light heavyweight champ and told him that until he can get sober and stay that way for a while, he is not able to train in the gym.
“I’m very disappointed. It’s tough. The hardest part is when you hear that his daughters said that you’ve gotta call the police officers,” Winkeljohn said. It’s just tough because, from my standing, I’ve got three daughters. I have a wife, three daughters, a mom. I teach women’s self-defense called Smart Girls Self Defense. It just makes it hard when he keeps getting in trouble. But 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 (before) 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. Because ignoring it and expecting different results, as they say, is insanity. He has a lot of yes people around him that won’t tell him the truth. So he might hate me for it, but I had to tell him the truth. But in my heart, gosh, that guy is capable of greatness, and I’m not just talking about fighting. In my heart, I hope he comes back and wins the heavyweight title, stops drinking, and comes forward and goes on to bigger things.”
This is a massive move from Winkeljohn, given the fact that Jon Jones is easily the biggest name who trains at this highly popular gym. However, he says that he wants to ensure that the ladies whom he teaches self-defense to know that he has their back.
That said, he has not given up hope that Jones will be able to right the ship. He says that if the former champ can get the right team around him and get rid of the “yes men” in his posse, he will be able to get back on track.
“Jon would never do anything bad if he wasn’t drunk. Honestly, that’s it. But he’s gotta fix it,” Winkeljohn said.
“In my heart, I do (think he can fix it). If he’s willing to accept the truth, and if others out there stop being yes people, I think it will help. But honestly, it’s no one else’s fault. This is just a decision between he and I, and I hope I made the right decision. If not, I’m okay with it.”
A lot of people feel that Jon Jones has not really faced any consequences for his repeated run-ins with the law over the last few years. Perhaps this decision from Mike Winkeljohn was part of the reason he supposedly decided to give up drinking, serving as a wake-up call for one of the greatest of all time.
Jon Jones’ separation from Jackson Wink initially was going very smoothly with neither party holding any resentment or bad blood. That was still true up until yesterday when Jones went to social media to call out former coach Mike Winkeljohn for harassing the coaches who continue to work with him. “Coach Wink gets on national […]
