UFC:s lätt tungvikt har genomgått en rejäl resa de senaste månaderna där viktklassens dominanta mästare, Jon Jones, blivit av med sitt bälte efter en smitningsolycka och en ny mästare krönts i form av Daniel Cormier. Trots sin fina insats mot Anthony Rumble Johnson, är det dock många som inte ser Cormier som viktklassens mästare eftersom Jones aldrig förlorade bältet. En av de som dock ger Cormier den ”cred” han förtjänar är Jones tränare Mike Winkeljohn, som i en intervju med Submission Radio berättar att Cormier har gjort sig förtjänt av bältet och är sann mästare.
He’s got the belt. That’s it. Jon was the champ, he’s no longer the champ. Daniel Cormier’s got the belt. I saw his fight with ’Rumble’ and he deserves to be champion. He took a heck of a shot. They don’t come any tougher than that. Coming back, staying composed enough to slip under that punch and take [Johnson] down to go into his world. He deserves to be champion.
Daniel Cormier has been nothing but respectful and courteous when I’ve talked to him, as has been ’Rumble.’ These guys are great and there’s no reason to take that away from him. He’s a champ right now, a UFC champ. I wish him all the luck.
På frågan om hans adepts återkomst till UFC var Winkeljohn lite mer tvetydig, då fokus för tillfället inte ligger på MMA just nu hos Jones utan mer att han ska klara av sina personliga problem. Den forne mästaren ligger dock ej på latsidan utan kommer in till gymmet och hjälper sin klubbkamrater under förberedelserna inför deras matcher.
I’m looking forward to Jon turning his life around and becoming a better person. Is he fighting again or not? I’m not sure. That’s not important. What is important right now is that Jon takes care of himself and his family.
To us, the most important thing is Jon Jones. Everybody seems to forget other things but at the end of the day it’s for Jon Jones to become the best person he can. The fighter is secondary. We lose sight of it. There’s a possibility that he might not fight. There’s a possibility that he might fight. I know right now he’s staying busy helping others in the gym. That’s very important.
Den forne mästaren ligger dock ej på latsidan utan kommer in till gymmet och hjälper sin klubbkamrater under förberedelserna inför deras matcher.
Jon’s just coming into the gym, doing his job. He’s just focused on helping others. That’s all I can say, all I will say. That’s the important part about it. I can’t dig into his emotions or tell you anything about him personally, but he’s there to help others which is very very important to us.
