"Nowadays, there's a lot of 'yes' coaches" - UFC light heavyweight Ike Villanueva breaks down why Conor McGregor and Jon Jones are having trouble outside the octagon
Ike Villanueva recently weighed in on Conor McGregor and Jon Jones' troubles outside the octagon.
As well as the pair's "inner demons," Ike Villanueva told Sportskeeda MMA another significant factor that could have played a role in McGregor and Jones' current state.
'Hurricane' believes the increasing number of 'yes' coaches in the sport could have resulted in their downfall. The UFC light heavyweight suggested MMA should fall back on old-school boxing-style coaches like Teddy Atlas, who stood no nonsense from their athletes.
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Andrew Whitelaw, Ike Villanueva said:
"Like I said, you get the personal demons, then you get the bad flock. It hangs around you. So you really gotta have a good team, real good coach that'll tell you, 'Okay, hey man, let's fix this.' And nowadays, there's a lot of 'yes' coaches in this game. Just anyway, 'Okay you're the champ, so whatever you want,' that's it. Man, I miss like, the old boxing trainers like Teddy Atlas. He keep it real. he could tell you, 'Hey you don't like it? Tough sh*t, get the f*** out of the gym.' That's what we really need to get back to in MMA. I appreciate the coaches back home, tough love man. You don't give us tough love, we're just gonna walk all over."
Both Conor McGregor and Jon Jones have recently been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The Irishman was recently accused of an unprovoked attack on Italian DJ Francesco Facchinetti. The allegation came barely a month after his altercation with American rapper Machine Gun Kelly.
Meanwhile, Jon Jones was recently arrested in Las Vegas on charges of battery domestic violence just hours after getting inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Jon Jones was arrested at 5:45 a.m. Friday morning, Officer Larry Hadfield of the Las Vegas Metro PD told @marc_raimondi.
The UFC and Jones’ team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. https://t.co/QFMyUIV0jn
Ike Villanueva believes Jon Jones is the GOAT
Ahead of his light heavyweight showdown at UFC Vegas 41, Ike Villanueva gave his thoughts on Jon Jones leaving the 205-pound division. 'Hurricane' agrees his departure has led to the rise of new prospects. He is also excited to see Jones back in the octagon at heavyweight.
While Ike Villanueva is sad to see Jon Jones on a self destructive path, he still maintains that 'Bones' is the greatest of all time. The 37-year old further told Sportskeeda MMA:
"Let everybody see who else is out there, who's a new contender. Because when Jon Jones was up there, it was just Jon Jones [for] so long. I mean, Jon Jones gotta fight the same guys repetitive, over and over. There was no new guys coming up. And now you see this young generation coming up, you say, 'Okay, alright. Here we go man.' Because during the Covid, a lot of young guys had an opportunity to show. So it's great that he is gone but I'm excited to see him coming back. If he goes back to heavyweight, I really want to see it. Cause he is the GOAT man. If you beat Jon Jones you are the man. Right now Jon Jones is going about beating himself man. That sucks but man, he's still the GOAT."
Check out our full interview with Ike Villanueva below:
Ike Villanueva will face Nicolae Negumereanu on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 41. Villanueva currently holds a 1-3 UFC record, with a lone KO win over Vinicius Moreira in January.
Meanwhile, Negumereanu bounced back with a split decision victory against Aleksa Camur after dropping his debut to Saparbeg Safarov via unanimous decision.