Watch: Jon Jones starts training at his old gym after leaving Jackson Wink MMA academy
Jon Jones has returned to training at Jackson's MMA Acoma in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after being banned from the Jackson Wink MMA Academy.
Following his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame's Fight Wing a few days before UFC 266 in Las Vegas, Jones was charged with battery domestic violence against his fiance.
Three weeks after being released on bail, 'Bones' was banned from the Jackson Wink gym by his long-time coach Mike Winkeljohn, who said he won't be allowed into the academy if he doesn't clear his name on all the charges.
Jon Jones took to Instagram to announce that he's gone back to the gym with whom he won his first world title. He recalled moments with the legendary Georges St-Pierre at Jackson's MMA and thanked owner Nick Urso for allowing him to train there.
"I want to sincerely thank Gym owner/ coach Nick Urso and everyone at the original Jackson’s MMA program for allowing me to call their dojo my new home base. I was so proud to see the condition of the gym, it was so well taken care of and the energy felt amazing exactly the way it was before. It has wonderful memories of my time learning from GSP, Sugar Evans, the dean of mean and so many more. I won my first world title out of this gym. I am grateful to have this comfortable place for both my local and visiting training partners to come enjoy. The best is yet to come!"
Jones is putting on weight and training intensely to move up and become a titleholder in the UFC heavyweight division in the future.
Jon Jones has slipped to No.6 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings
Jon Jones was a light heavyweight champion and the No.1 UFC men's pound-for-pound fighter at the beginning of last year. He vacated his title after a unanimous decision victory over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 last February.
Jones has now been inactive for just over 21 months. He has dropped to the No.6 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings, behind Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya, Francis Ngannou and Dustin Poirier.
I’m just a few months away now, can’t wait to see who wins this fight in January
Jon Jones is now determined to return to the octagon by the second quarter of 2022. He wants to face the winner of January's UFC 270 main event between champion Francis Ngannou and interim titleholder Ciryl Gane.