Getty Could Jon Jones face the winner of UFC 265 next?
Even though former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has had a rough time as of late, he’s continued training for his heavyweight debut. And the 205-pound is as big and powerful as ever.
Jones is facing multiple charges after an incident last month in Las Vegas. “Bones” was accused of pulling his fiancée’s hair and headbutting a police vehicle. A few weeks after that, Jones’ longtime coach Mike Winkeljohn announced that Bones is temporarily banned from the Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
That hasn’t stopped Jones from putting in the work at his home gym, however. And he recently shared multiple videos of himself hitting mitts and lifting weights.
In the videos, Bones shows off his strength and stature, and they can be watched via the Instagram post embedded below:
The latest UFC news straight to your inbox! Subscribe to the Heavy on UFC newsletter here!
Sign up for the Heavy on UFC Newsletter!
Jones Is Banned From Jackson Wink Until He Stops Drinking & Works ‘On These Things’
Winkeljohn spoke with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” earlier this month about Bones’ standing with the gym. That’s when Winkeljohn revealed that Jones isn’t welcomed at the famed facility until he works “on these things,” including stopping drinking.
“I’m very disappointed,” Winkeljohn said via BJPen.com. “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. 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.”
Follow the Heavy on UFC Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content!
Winkeljohn Believes It Was Necessary to Ban Jones
Not wanting to ignore Jones’ history of legal issues any longer, Winkeljohn believes he made the right call by temporarily banning the former light heavyweight king.
“He’s not allowed to come into the gym,” Winkeljohn said. “I felt like I had to do that because ignoring it and expecting different results, as they say, is insanity,” Winkeljohn said. “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.”
Winkeljohn also praised Jones’ ability as a fighter and wished him well.
“But in my heart, God, that guy’s good for greatness,” Winkeljohn continued. “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.”
READ NEXT: UFC’s Tony Ferguson Dismissed: ‘Too Far Over the Hill’