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Jon Jones & Jackson Wink MMA Academy: The Greatest of All Time

January 27, 2020

The story of greatness would inaugurate in Albuquerque, New Mexico when martial arts coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn put forces together in hopes of formatting the highest level of mixed martial arts gym on the planet. Greg, stemming from a background of wrestlers with decades of MMA experience and Mike, a world-renowned kickboxing champion and striking coach were the ideal candidates to achieve such accomplishments.


Two of the greatest minds in the business now co-owned a gym together; it was only a matter a time before their partnership produced world champions.

Greg Jackson (left), Jon Jones (middle), Mike Winkeljohn (right)

The Arrival of Jonny ‘Bones’ Jones


The summer of 2009 would see an additional member added to the list of trained UFC fighters when a young Jon Jones walked through the doors of the Jackson Wink MMA Academy. The UFC management, the fans, the critics and not even the bookmakers could predict the journey these three men in Jones, Jackson & Winkeljohn would begin together.


It wasn’t plain sailing, to begin with; Jones suffered the first loss on his record in his debut fight under the Jackson Wink banner. But don’t be alarmed, the new kid from upstate New York made a rookie mistake which concluded in a disqualification loss for Jones. The 22-year-old boasted an undefeated 9-0 record prior to this blip and even Dana White himself attempted to have this decision overruled due to the controversial yet unfortunate outcome to the fight.


With the illegal elbows behind him, it’s still joked about today amongst MMA die-hards how Matt Hamill is the true G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time) due to the win on his record over Jones, but just-in-case anybody is new to the sport, Jones outclassed Hamill in all aspects of the fight-game with the result reflecting nothing other than a bad-luck on Jones behalf.


The Come-Up

Shogun Rua vs. Jon Jones (2011)

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