Former UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones took to social media and went off on his former head coach, Mike Winkeljohn. Both men had a longstanding association that spanned over the tenure of Jones’ legendary run as the 205-pound kingpin. However, after Jones’ recent run-in with the law in Las Vegas back in September, Winkeljohn decided to cut Jones loose.
Mike Winkeljohn appeared on The MMA Hour and talked about how he decided to keep Jones away from the gym until he sorted out his personal life. The news came as a surprise to many, especially considering that Winkeljohn stood by Jon Jones during prior controversies.
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In turn, ‘Bones’ was quick to announce that he would be leaving the gym and continuing his training with his other coaches. In fact, Jones has now taken his travels to the road with his recent stint down at Fight Ready in Arizona with Henry Cejudo.
Jon Jones sounds off on his former coach
Jones decided to set the record straight and bashed Jackson-Wink coach Mike Winkeljohn on Twitter. Jones called him out for pretending to care for him in the media and then trying to stop his coaches from training with him behind closed doors. Not to mention, Jon Jones didn’t hold back from using profanity when calling out his coach.
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 [h/t BJPenn.com]
He then went on to slam coach Winkeljohn for the way in which he trained fighters. In fact, he went so far as to say that Mike Winkeljohn hadn’t taught him any new technique of substance for several years. This is a major slight to the coach, who prides himself on being versatile and regimental when it comes to his training.
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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.
‘Bones’ didn’t stop there, and he ended up doubling down on his claim that Mike Winkeljohn was being two-faced. According to Jones, his success is sure to continue since he’s working with the same coaching staff from his stint in Jackson-Wink.
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It’s clear that there’s no love lost between both men who were once a dynamic coach-student duo in the sport. However, it seems as though their relationship has well and truly come to an end after a long and inarguably successful run.
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