Coach Mike Winkeljohn: Jon Jones May Be in Danger of Becoming an 'Idiot'

Jon Jones has historically partied a little too hard, hung out with the wrong people and now must clean up his act—or else.

That's according to no one less than Mike Wineljohn, Jones' striking coach and, along with Greg Jackson, one of the two top coaches at the Jackson-Winkeljohn camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Jones trains.

John Locher/Associated Press

"I’m definitely worried about it," he said Monday on The MMA Hour broadcast with Ariel Helwani (h/t MMAFighting.com). "We’ve had that conversation. So, not only does he hang out with idiots, he acts like an idiot sometimes, and if he keeps doing it he will become an idiot himself."

In January, it was announced Jones—the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion and consensus best fighter in MMA—had tested positive for a cocaine metabolite several weeks prior to his January 3 title defense against Daniel Cormier.

Jones' decision victory in that bout was allowed to stand. Officials from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which administered the test, received criticism for their policy on cocaine as well as their timeline in releasing the test result. Despite the test coming well before Jones' fight with Cormier, the result did not become public until after the bout.

Jones later checked into a substance-abuse rehab facility but stayed for only one night. The UFC fined Jones $25,000 for the test failure.

On Monday, Winkeljohn said he stood behind Jones and that he did not believe Jones had a drug problem, but he did say Jones needed to change his lifestyle.

"I...believe in Jon Jones," Winkeljohn said. "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. ... If you would have asked me five years ago, I would have thought, gosh, Jon would have fallen off a cliff, because of the influences from all these idiots hanging out with him. ... 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."