At one point in time, Jackson Wink MMA and Jon Jones were synonymous with each other. On paper, it seemed like the fight camp/fighter duo was a match made in heaven, and that relationship translated to Jones’ dominant display of MMA through 11 light heavyweight title defenses. A very infamous moment was when Greg Jackson asked Jon Jones to make an adjustment against Lyoto Machida who was getting the better of Jones through his counterstriking. The small adjustment saw Jones throw his own counter to Machida’s counter, dropping him, then catching him in a guillotine and putting him to sleep.

The instance with Lyoto Machida is but one occasion where Greg Jackson provided the best coaching advice to his star pupil Jon Jones. However, being the dominant fighter Jones is, his career was marred by controversies. One of those instances proved to be too much, even for his coaches and academy, who previously tolerated many of Jon Jones’ shenanigans. In this story, we’ll take a deeper look at Jon Jones’ fabled history with Jackson Wink MMA.

Meet Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, Jon Jones’ coaches, and their students

Jackson Wink MMA was founded in 2000, in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, by Greg Jackson. Jackson grew up in a tough and challenging environment, often being a problem child, getting into fights, and facing multiple suspensions from school. However, through constant training, Greg Jackson developed his own martial art Gaidojutsu through the years and opened his own martial academy in 2000. Along the way, he joined up with striking specialist Mike Winkeljohn to form what is widely considered one of the best MMA gyms in the world today.

Jackson Wink MMA is the home to some of the best fighters in the world and at one point, Jon Jones was its star pupil. Apart from that it has a list of fighters who have walked through the gym doors, only to walk out as champions. Holly Holm, Rashad Evans, Michelle Waterson, Keith Jardine, Andrei Arlovski, Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn, and many more have trained at the famed academy at some point in their careers.

It was the summer of 2009 when a young Jon Jones walked through the doors of Jackson Wink MMA. The UFC fans could not predict the kind of journey that these three men – Greg Jackson, Mike Winkeljohn, and Jon Jones – would embark on.

However, like every journey, this was not a piece of cake, and ‘Bones’ had to suffer its first loss as it debuted under Jackson and Wink Academy. With the illegal elbows behind him, Jones started to win every fight that he took. The light heavyweight defeated opponents like Brandon Vera, Ryan Bader, Quinton Jackson, and even Daniel Cormier. Through the years of 2011-2019, Jones has invariably safeguarded his Light Heavyweight title and even when he was disrobed of the belt, he would return within the year to assert it back from Daniel Cormier.

Every journey has its ups and downs, and Jones’ journey with the famed gym started with a loss as a Jackson Wink MMA debutant. The loss wasn’t even a loss, but a disqualification as a result of a punishing illegal move Jones performed on his opponent Matt Hamill. However, with the DQ loss as a stark reminder, Jones and his coaches ensured that he never lost a match, even if he was in non-spectacular fights.

From 2011 to 2019, Jon Jones became the most dominant champion the UFC ever saw, besides Demetrious Johnson. Such was his legacy, that the light heavyweight division was devoid of a legitimate champion after he vacated the belt until Alex Pereira came along. So the question arises; if Jon Jones had such an illustrious career with Jackson Wink MMA – what went wrong?

Why did Jon Jones leave Jackson Wink MMA? 

In 2021, post being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, Jon Jones was involved in a domestic incident with his fiancé Jessie Moses. The incident was so ugly, that an inebriated Jones had to be detained by police officers. While being detained, ‘Bones’ infamously banged his head on the police patrol car, while also making threats at the arresting officers. He was charged with three counts and had to pay a bail of $16,000. Although this was yet another instance of Jon Jones walking away from a situation without dire consequences, this was the final straw that broke the camel’s back for Jackson Wink MMA.

Three weeks after the incident, the famed MMA gym banned Jon Jones from entering its premises. Everyone and maybe even Jones expected the suspension from the gym to be temporary. For his part, Jones didn’t take too kindly with the ouster, calling Mike Winklejohn a ‘miserable bas***d’. According to The Independent, coach Winklejohn had a tough time banning Jones from the gym. Not responding in kind, ‘Bones’ said the following – “Coach Wink goes on national TV and says he wants the best for me, and then behind the scenes harassing the other coaches for continuing to work with me.”

Continuing his tirade, Jones claimed that it was, in fact, him who walked away from the academy, and not the other way around – “I didn’t leave the gym because I couldn’t handle the punishment, I left the gym because I wasn’t training with [him] anymore anyways. This man hasn’t taught students a new technique since I met him.” With regards to Greg Jackson, however, Jones had a softer tone – “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,” Jones wrote on X. “Sincerely thank you to the rest of the coaches for staying in the fight with me. Our journey continues.”

While Jon Jones may have a gripe with Mike Winklejohn, he continues to have a healthy relationship with Greg Jackson. In a statement to ESPN, a gym spokesperson had declared that Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson would continue to train Jones off-site. Since 2021, the duo has been training him alongside Olympian Gable Steveson and multiple-time ADCC champion Gordon Ryan.