ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – The Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque has trained some of the sport’s top fighters and transformed itself from a small, obscure gym.
From UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm to former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones, fighters from around the world come to the academy to work with a popular team of coaches.
The athletes say they are attracted to the city’s high attitude, the nearby mountains and polite weather that compliment all-year training.
The gym also attracts fans who take selfies in front of the facility and enter to buy T-Shirts of favorite fighters with the hopes of getting a glimpse of them.
Co-owner Mike Winkeljohn says Albuquerque is that the low-key city doesn’t have the “distractions” that could “get fighters in trouble.”