Mike Winkeljohn
At a glance
- Former pro kickboxer, 25-7-2 record
- Multiple-time ISKA kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion
- Cofounded Jackson Wink MMA with Greg Jackson in 2007
Overview
Mike Winkeljohn is an Albuquerque, New Mexico, native. A former professional kickboxer, he went 25-7-2 after only four amateur fights. He won multiple ISKA world titles in kickboxing and Muay Thai, and he holds a fifth-degree black belt in Kempo karate.
In 2007 he partnered with Greg Jackson to found Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque. He is cofounder and head coach in charge of striking. He has worked on the stand-up of UFC champions including Jon Jones, Holly Holm, and Georges St-Pierre, and the gym has also trained Carlos Condit and Cub Swanson.
What you'll find
On Instagram, Winkeljohn posts striking training reels featuring his fighters. His 2025 posts show striking sessions, pad work, and Jackson Wink MMA fighters in camp.
You get the daily work of a striking coach inside an MMA gym: combinations, footwork, and distance management. It is a direct look at his method, with the gym's fighters. The gym, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Albuquerque, runs pro, amateur, teen, and kids MMA programs, a wrestling club, private sessions, and online programs. Fighters can live on site in dorm rooms or apartments, which lets out-of-town fighters train with him full time during camp.
Why follow
Winkeljohn is the other half of Jackson Wink MMA. Greg Jackson is known for strategy, Winkeljohn for the stand-up game. Holly Holm, a former boxing world champion, is one of the fighters whose striking he developed, and she took the UFC title from Ronda Rousey at UFC 193.
His angle is technical analysis. With titles in kickboxing and Muay Thai, he teaches striking built for MMA, where you also have to deal with wrestling and takedowns. His videos show you how a coach at this level fixes a technique or builds a combination. His fifth-degree black belt in Kempo karate adds a traditional martial arts base to that striking.
MMA Official's take
Mike Winkeljohn is a fit for striking athletes and fans who want to understand stand-up in MMA. If you train kickboxing, Muay Thai, or MMA, his reels give you drills and technical details to watch for.
Start with his 2025 training reels on Instagram, where you see his pad sessions with the gym's fighters. Then watch Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 to see the striking work he did with her. If you train yourself, the gym's online programs are another way to learn from him.