Cerrone at odds with Jackson-Wink over training Perry
Sanchez defends gym, Winkeljohn fires back at ‘Cowboy’
The gloves are off, way off, in a burgeoning dispute between UFC welterweight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Jackson-Wink MMA co-owner Mike Winkeljohn.
Diego Sanchez, Cerrone’s longtime Jackson-Wink teammate, has weighed in as well — in defense of the gym against criticism from Cerrone that Jackson-Wink has become an MMA “puppy mill.”
Wednesday, on the Joe Rogan Experience MMA show, Cerrone (33-11) made public his dispute with Winkeljohn and his problems with how the gym is being run.
Primarily, Cerrone said he was unhappy that Winkeljohn plans to train Mike Perry (12-3), a relative newcomer to Jackson-Wink, for a Nov. 10 fight against Cerrone in Denver.
Cerrone, with Sanchez, Keith Jardine, Holly Holm, Leonard Garcia, Joey Villaseñor, Michelle Waterson, Julie Kedzie, et al, is among the first generation of those who’ve fought under the Jackson-Wink banner. He has said he feels J-W coaches should have opted out of training Perry for a fight against someone of his stature and seniority within the gym.
Cerrone said Winkeljohn called him and said, “‘You know what, I thought about it and if we don’t have Perry, then I don’t get paid, and I need to get paid for this.’ Basically he tells me I’m no longer welcome in the gym.”
Later Wednesday, Winkeljohn told the website mmajunkie.com that Cerrone has had progressively less of a presence at Jackson-Wink and trains predominantly at his own BMF Ranch in Edgewood.
“Loyalty is two sides,” Winkeljohn said. “’Cowboy’ is not loyal to anybody. He’s on his own. He does his own thing.
“He has not, from what I can remember in the last 10 years, ever helped anybody out with their own camp. He’s as narcissistic as they come.”
Cerrone also expressed unhappiness with Greg Jackson, with Winkeljohn the co-founder of the gym. He said Jackson has offered to come to Cerrone’s gym, as he has in the past, and train him for the Perry fight.
But in this scenario, Cerrone said, he didn’t like the idea of Jackson coming to his gym and still having a presence at Jackson-Wink while Perry was training there.
“You see everything he does, and then you come train me?” Cerrone told Rogan. “Not to mention you’re holding classes and (Perry’s) watching.”
Cerrone went on to accuse Winkeljohn of turning Jackson-Wink into an MMA “puppy mill,” in which the profit motivation has led to a deterioration in quality.
At that point, Sanchez jumped into the fray. Cerrone, he says, has become a virtual stranger at Jackson-Wink.
“I have been here longer than anyone and (have) seen the many stages of our evolution of this team!!!” Sanchez posted on Instagram. “We’re stronger than ever (and) our defeats only helped us to grow.
“... In the past ten years Cowboy never went out of his way to help me get ready for a fight not once!””
Perry, in a recent online interview, said Winkeljohn and Jackson-Wink coach Frank Lester will be in his corner on Nov. 10 and that Jackson will corner for Cerrone.
Phone messages left by the Journal on Thursday for Winkeljohn and Jackson were not returned.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: The bantamweight MMA fight between Moriarty’s Brenda Gonzales Means (8-3) and Panama’s Joselyne Edwards Laboriel (7-1), originally scheduled for Aug. 17 in Clive, Iowa, has been rescheduled for Saturday at Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colo.
The fight will be part of a King of the Cage card that features several of Gonzales Means’ teammates at Albuquerque’s FIT-NHB gym, including Tim Sosa and Sidiah Parker.
Meanwhile, FIT-NHB welterweight Tim Means (27-10-1), Gonzales Means’ husband, posted on Twitter that he’ll face Rick Rainey (13-5) in Las Vegas, Nev., Nov. 30 on the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 28.