Mike Winkeljohn Says Jon Jones Must Be Wary Of Thiago Santos' Counters at UFC 239

Mike Winkeljohn is currently preparing Jon Jones for another title fight on Saturday night when the champion takes on the heavy-hitting Thiago Santos at UFC 239 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The veteran coach is under no illusion of the threat the Brazilian poses with his knockout power but says his fighter should be most concerned with his opponent’s counter attacks.

Winkeljohn is used to preparing Jones for heavy-handed fighters such as Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson and Glover Teixeira. However, Santos brings his own skillset to the table and Winkeljohn broke down Santos’s strengths to BJPENN.com before warning Jones to be wary of the Brazilians deadly counter attacks.

“Yeah, he has that knockout power. He is very explosive and is very good what he does,” Winkeljohn said. “He is dangerous and can attack you first. But, we have to worry about the counter. That is the most dangerous thing about Thiago.”

Winkeljohn is confident Jones will win on Saturday night and acknowledged that taking down Santos and turning it into a ground fight would be Jones’ safest chance of winning the fight but warned not to get complacent, as the Brazilian could hurt him going in for the takedown.

“Once Jon takes people down he lands the elbows and it is a bloody mess. So, the easiest path to victory is to take him down,” he explained. “But, with that being said, we don’t want to shoot and he lands a hard shot that hurts Jon. There are so many things that can happen.”