The coach-fighter relationship between former UFC champions [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] and [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] came out of nowhere, but by all accounts, it’s been a great partnership between self-proclaimed GOATs.
Jones teamed up with Cejudo at Fight Ready in Scottsdale, Ariz., this past November after his longtime coach, Mike Winkeljohn, banned him from entering JacksonWink MMA, Jones’ longtime home gym in Albuquerque, N.M. Winkeljohn’s decision was in response to Jones’ domestic violence arrest for allegedly assaulting his wife; the charge was later dropped after Jones agreed to a plea deal.
The situation left Jones training only out of his home gym, which he knew wasn’t good enough as he continued preparations for an eventual move up to heavyweight. So he synced up with Cejudo, who’s turned to coaching since unexpectedly retiring in May 2020.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie Radio, Cejudo spoke about his approach to training Jones and why their union works.
“We think outside the box, so it’s different for us. We’re not part of a team,” Cejudo said. “I saw the thing you guys talked about: ‘Where should he go? ATT, he should go to blah blah blah.’ No, not really. What you do with a guy like Jon Jones is you build a team around him. He is the team. He doesn’t need to be pushed. He needs to be tweaked. He’s already been through hell. He’s already been through the turmoil.”
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Cejudo said how he approached working with Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) falls in line with the overall theme of Fight Ready.
“That’s kind of what we do with the athletes here,” Cejudo said. “Once somebody comes here and sees what we have planned, it’s just different because it’s all catered toward their ability. You know what a good coach does fundamentally? A good coach just adjusts you and holds you to your standards, adjusts you fundamentally but understands your gifts. If a coach is teaching the same combination, the same thing to all the other fighters, then it’s all about the coach. And it shouldn’t be like that. It should be about the athletes.”
For the first time in his career, Jones, 34, went an entire calendar year without fighting after missing all of 2021. He hasn’t competed since a narrow win over Dominick Reyes in February 2020.
Jones has said he hopes to return to the UFC by July. And when he does, he’ll be equipped with some new tricks of the trade thanks to Cejudo.