Just a day after the UFC released Luis Pena following his second domestic violence incident this year, Jon Jones has been told to leave — his gym, that is.
Jones is facing similar accusations of domestic violence stemming from an incident last month. While UFC President Dana White has said that anyone, even Jones, could be on the chopping block for the sort of incident “Violent Bob Ross” has been accused of, Jones’ own coach, Mike Winkeljohn, has banished him from Jackson-Wink MMA.
Winkeljohn himself broke the news on Wednesday’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.
“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,'” Winkeljohn told Helwani on the show. “So, at the moment, he’s out of the gym. He’s not allowed to come in the gym, because I feel I had to do that. Ignoring it and expecting different results, as they say, is insanity.”
A statement provided to ESPN from a Jackson-Wink spokesperson following the appearance, however, stated only that Jones was “temporarily suspended” from the facility.
Jones, meanwhile, took to social media to issue his side of the conversation with Winklejohn. In a since-deleted tweet, the former UFC light heavyweight champion wrote that he 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. Sincere thank you to the rest of the coaches for staying in the fight with me. Our journey continues…”
Jones has been with Jackson-Wink MMA over a decade, through his illustrious UFC title run. However, throughout that time, he has been the subject of frequent run-ins with the law.
Jones was most recently arrested following his UFC Hall of Fame induction (for his UFC 165 classic with Alexander Gustafsson in 2013) last month. Following an altercation that reportedly left his longtime fiance bloody, the former champion was charged with felony injuring or tampering with a vehicle, and misdemeanor battery domestic violence. The altercation was reportedly witnessed by the star’s daughters.
The 34-year old disputed striking his fiance in another tweet Wednesday, which for the time being remains posted. “I love how people are imagining the worst possible situation in their heads and making it somehow factual. I never hit my fiancé and our daughters were woken up after our confrontation. My daughters didn’t see or hear us arguing.”
Jones has gone on record to state that he intends to give up drinking following the incident. But in another since-deleted tweet, he added a shocking revelation. “My life wasn’t always great man. Being molested as a child, losing a parent and sibling to disease at a young age. It goes on and on man. I got things I need to deal with.”
Jones has never spoken previously on the record about a history of abuse. He did not expand on the allegations Wednesday, and later deleted the tweet in question.
None of the charges currently faced by Jones have been proven in court.
