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| Mandatory Credit: Zuffa LLC |
Jones, a longtime staple of the Albuquerque, New Mexico facility was recently banned from attending the gym by his longtime head coach, Winkeljohn following his September 24. arrest in Las Vegas, where he was charged with misdemeanor battery domestic violence, and a felony charge of tampering or injuring a vehicle.
The Rochester native’s latest involvement with law enforcement and subsequent arrest was condemned by former coach, Winkeljohn, who maintained that the former light heavyweight champion was suspended from training at the facility as he deals with his alcohol abuse issues.
“I just had a conversation with him (Jon Jones),” Winkeljohn said. “I said, ‘Jon, here’s the deal. 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.“
In response to his suspension and the comments made by Winkeljohn, Jones claimed that he was “hurt” to find himself without the support of his coach.
“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 tweeted. “Sincere (sic) thank you to the rest of the coaches for staying in the fight with. Our journey continues.“
In a series of tweets made tonight on his official Twitter account, Jones claimed that Winkeljohn was now “harassing” other coaches from the facility for continuing to work alongside him — labeling him as a “miserable b*stard“.
Jones then claimed that Winkeljohn had been responsible for the fleeing of multiple veterans of the gym over the last number of years.
Jones refuted suggestions that he left the facility over his suspension, claiming that he actually no longer trained with Winkeljohn — before criticizing his training methods.
Jones then claimed that Winkeljohn was looking to gain public notoriety by suspending him from the facility, and questioned his loyalty as a friend for airing his “dirty laundry“.
The former two-time champion then claimed that Winkeljohn was still attempting to monetize Jones’ prior affiliation with the facility, claiming that Jackson-Wink MMA had poster of him littered on its walls.
“Wink (Winkeljohn) suspending me from the team changed absolutely nothing for me,” Jones tweeted. “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 sh*t 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,” Jones tweeted. “Real douche bag move Mike.“
Finally, the 34-year-old questioned the morals of Winkeljohn, claiming that Jackson-Wink MMA had knowingly allowed a convicted rapist to train at the facility.