Until Jon Jones gets his act together, his long-time gym affiliate Jackson-Wink MMA will no longer be welcoming “Bones” to their gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
On Sept. 24, 2021, Jon Jones was allegedly arrested for battery domestic violence. After spending a short amount of time in jail, “Bones” was released and slapped with an Oct. 26, 2021 court date. Of course, this is not the first time Jones has found himself in trouble with the law. In 2015, Jones was involved in a hit-and-run car accident involving a pregnant woman.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Mike Winkeljohn clarified in a long-form conversation on why he will no longer allow Jones into the gym.
“I’m very disappointed. It’s tough. The hardest part was when you hear that his daughter says you have to call the police officers. It’s tough from my standing, I’ve got three daughters. I have a wife and three daughters, I teach women’s self-defense called Smart Girls self-defense. It just makes it hard when he keeps getting in trouble,” Winkeljohn said of Jones. “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 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 into the gym. I felt like I had to do that because ignoring it and expecting different results, as they say, is insanity. He’s got a lot of yes people around him that won’t tell him the truth. He might hate me for it, but I had to tell him the truth. But in my heart, God, that guy’s good for greatness. And I’m not just talking about fighting. In my heart, I hope Jones comes back and wins the heavyweight title, stops drinking, and goes forward, and goes onto bigger things. Oh my goodness. He’s so charismatic and so damn smart and he can sit down and break down and fights and he can sit down and break down a lot of things in life. He’s capable of doing much bigger things than just this MMA world. That’s where we are right now, but we’ll see what happens in the future. I hope him all the best.” Winkeljohn concluded.
With the superstar’s recent transgressions, long-time striking coach and mentor Mike Winkeljohn officially put an end to Jon Jones’ stay at the Jackson-Wink MMA gym. After having a stern conversation with Jones, Winkeljohn insists that Jones is no longer welcome until he can start working on himself.
While the decision was not made lightly, according to Winkeljohn he believes it’s what is best until Jones starts his path to recovery. Jones last fought in Feb. 2020, and he earned his twelfth title defense at 205-pounds. Despite plans to move up to heavyweight, it appears those ideas are on hold for now.
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