Mike Winkeljohn “Definitely Worried” About Jon Jones Cutting His Legacy Short

Having defeated Daniel Cormier on January 3 at UFC 182, Jon Jones was not granted much time to celebrate. By January 6 it was revealed that the light heavyweight champion had tested positive for benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite in cocaine, and had entered a drug treatment facility.

At the time, the response among the MMA community was mixed with some offering their support while others took the opportunity to poke fun at the disgraced champ. UFC President Dana White said he was “proud of Jon Jones for making the decision to enter a drug treatment facility”. These sentiments were echoed by Jones’ head coach, Greg Jackson, who said at the time, “I’m glad to hear he’s taking steps to not make that mistake again.”

A few weeks removed from the incident, another of Jones’ trainers weighed in on the topic while speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour yesterday. When asked for his take on the affair, striking coach Mike Winkeljohn didn’t mince his words.

“Well, it’s disappointing,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it. It’s disappointing that he’d be partying before a fight. With that being said, I don’t think it helped him in the fight, it probably hurt him in the fight, because partying… it’s taking away from his focus, and he’s not rehabbing the way he should.”

When asked whether he was worried Jones’ behaviour could be detrimental to his legacy Winkeljohn, again, spoke candidly:

“Sure. Oh, definitely worried about it. We’ve had that conversation”, he said. “If you would have asked me five years ago, I would have thought, gosh, Jon would have fallen off the cliff, because of the influences from all these idiots that hang out with him,” he said. “I thought he would fall off the cliff.”

Winkeljohn was not shy in expressing his concerns surrounding Jones’ decision making, but when asked directly whether he felt the champion had a problem, “Wink” was definitive in his response.

“No, he doesn’t have a problem,” he replied. “He parties. In my opinion, it’s definitely not an addict type of thing at all. I think he sometimes finds himself hanging out with idiots”, Winkeljohn continued. “He acts like an idiot sometimes and if he keeps doing it he will become an idiot himself”.

Ultimately, Winkeljohn expressed confidence in his student.

“I think he has it under control”, he told Helwani. “I believe in Jon Jones. I believe in his legacy. I believe he’s going to make it to the top. Honestly, he’s a young kid with everything thrown to him. And it’s a tough situation. Almost every other athlete that has been put in that situation, in some ways has crashed and burned”, he went on. “But Jon has good balance. Apparently he stood at the edge of the cliff, but he didn’t fall off, so now he’s getting back on the path.”

Considering how far Jones has come, and with his recent decision to move to Albuquerque permanently from his residence in Ithaca, New York, Winkeljohn seems to think the light heavyweight champion is headed in a good direction.

“Not only am I proud of where we’ve got him, but I’m looking forward to taking him to a higher level”.