JacksonWink financial woes: tryouts $40, train with Holly $20; in bed with dodgy app CageHunter

I’m not defending JacksonWink, but it is not at all uncommon for a successful fighter to do seminars or training spots to help out a friend’s gym or their trainer’s gym. I know Rich Franklin did it back when he had the belt. He didn’t need the money and just asked that they pay his expenses and maybe he’d sell a few tee shirts. Teh Chris did it for Wonderboy’s dad back when he was still relevant. Again, I’m not addressing JW’s website or ethics, but Holly seems the type to help out a friend or trainer.
 
They are probably making a ton of money by sacrificing their focus on their fighters and catering to the general pop. Only exception would be Jones and Holly.

AMC does something similar in that they only really focus on Mighty Mouse but they still have legit training and don’t resort to scummy cash-grab opportunities

Also Max Holloway’s gym does the same thing except their training sucks ass unless you are named Holloway or Yancy.

The truth is being a fighter focused gym is hard to do.
Look at Alpha Male and their management problems.
Only ones doing it right seem to be AKA and ATT
 
How many emails do you think they are getting that read something like this?

" Can you put me on the list to train with Holly? I want to do a private session and focus on north south position and triangles. Also I noticed the rate posted was for a 90 minute session, how much for like 15-20 min? Thanks!"
 
LEGS MAHONEY said:
Why cant we pay to snort coke with jones and drag race ?
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Fuck... yah beat me to it..

Was gunna say the same thing... How do party with Jones... Any classes on Sandblasting hookers??

Gotta throw in the “Finer Points of Passing USADA Tests and Deflecting When You Fail” class Jones teaches... That’s some Senior level shit though..
 
It’s funny I never really thought about it too much but a lot of gyms for the head trainer’s it’s probably pretty boring. Because he can’t make an entire living just on guys you train exclusively. So you have to deal with the boredom Of private training sessions with these goofballs that walk in off the street to make a living among other things. Unless you are wealthy enough to get somebody to do it all for you.
 
HumanSandwich said:
Gsp got off board at a good time. What embarrassments
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He was never really there. He always had his camp mostly in Montreal. He would go there a little bit but usually just had Greg Jackson come in and be an advisor. Guys with that team also back in the day would fly out to come and train with him in Montreal. Like Rashad and Nate, also Cowboy..
 
OmegaRugal said:
Yea sounds way too cheap ... I would definitely go for this if I lived nearby.
Would be a fun experience and get to see if her punches can really damage my ego.
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You never get to spar or roll with them,forget that happening lol itll just be drills and workouts
 
Dbreiden83080 said:
It’s funny I never really thought about it too much but a lot of gyms for the head trainer’s it’s probably pretty boring. Because he can’t make an entire living just on guys you train exclusively. So you have to deal with the boredom Of private training sessions with these goofballs that walk in off the street to make a living among other things. Unless you are wealthy enough to get somebody to do it all for you.
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The head trainers dont deal with those guys off the street in the major gyms. They got other guys to do that for them.
 
EdmundsEmptyBankAccount said:
Let's also consider the angle of FIGHTER SAFETY: They are announcing where a famous fighter will be at a specific time and offering them a chance to get into close physical proximity with her. I know she's tough - but what if some nutbag brings a weapon to class?!?



What if her husband shows up?!?! "Drop ins are welcome but space is limited" ...

Holly should not be this available to the general public
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Oh come on
 
EdmundsEmptyBankAccount said:
Long read warning!
​
Executive summary: JackonWink website is embarrassing, unprofessional, into dodgy business deals and seems to be really low on cash right now.
Offering tryouts for $40, group training with Holly for $20.
They have made a deal to make 20% of profit from suspicious Slovakian app Cagehunter, which is a fighter recruitment portal.
The current Gym manager, Michael , is the former manager of Khabib... what the fuck?

Cliffs:
1. Holly is plastered all over the JacksonWink website to lure people in (Train with Holly for $20, all skill levels welcome). (not so much Jones ?? <45> )
2. Horrible grammar. Language used throughout site shows they are clearly desperate for people to give them money, confirming Cerone's assertions on JRE.
3. Website designed by gym General Manager, a random Russian manager with a dead website and an inactive YouTube page with stale hype videos from 3-5 years ago. He seems to have run Boyetz Fight Team in the past.
4. Gym general manager's favorite quote (from Facebook): Behind every great fortune there is a great crime! (lol Jon Jones)
5. Main source of business seems to be a "live-in MMA gym" AKA immigration front. Questions on new fighter form include "*Do you need Immigration VISA assistance?"
6. The main website pushes a product called CageHunter, so JacksonWink are in bed with a bunch of Slovakians attempting to get into the Manager game by abusing the relationships of JacksonWink.
7. Cagehunter offered Wink 20% of net profit from the app in return for "promoting the CageHunter app by his fighter's social networks and by his own powerful contacts on MMA scene (managers, promoters...)".
7. Cagehunter app shows a screenshot of the app with text "Click to view fighter profile on SHAREDOG"
EDIT: 8. "Workout with Holly" proceeds are going to "Charity" founded by Heather Winklejohn, wife of Mike, who founded the charity: https://www.incredablemma.org. Where do you guys think the money is going??? o_O (unsubstantiated but true fact: charities are another great way to funnel money away from the authorities).
EDIT: 9. Gym manager/webmaster Michael Lyubimov is also linked with Red Fury MMA - who have an old Twitter page confirming they managed Khabib... very odd that this guy is now involved with Wink?
​
Full details:
I didn't mean to write a long post but this shit kept getting crazier.

Keep in mind that JacksonWink was once considered exclusive; the top MMA gym who were dominating the UFC (and enraging Dana White)

After seeing a Sherbro post this gem offering Saturday sessions with Holly freaking Holm for a $20 bill, I checked out the Jackson Wink website.

You immediately get pinged by a chatbot:
Hi there, welcome to Jackson Wink MMA Academy. This is General Manager Michael Lyubimov. If you are a fighter looking to train here, please fill out this form: https://www.jacksonwink.com/new-fighter-inquiry If you have any other questions, I would be more then happy to answer them for you. Thank you!​
Here is Michael's Facebook page. He's got a lot of posts up of Wink gym activity and also is re-posting broken links to the JacksonWink page...(List of High-calibreFighters that trained at JacksonWink MMA at some point...). He seems to have run Boyetz Fight Team in the past. His favorite quote (from Facebook): Behind every great fortune there is a great crime! (lol Jon Jones). Not sure why he chose to share this choice clip of Dana and Novitsky trimmed down to the part where they say "THIS IS NOT A NEW POSITIVE THIS IS A REPULSE FROM 2017".

Strange that he doesn't have a higher profile, but seems quite eager to get people in the door. So I followed the link, here is what they ask NEW FIGHTERS:
If you are a hard worker, a team player, a serious fighter, or someone who is trying to start their MMA career, we are super excited to get to know you. We are looking for different candidates, from different walks of life, different weight classes, and different martial arts backgrounds, who are interested in joining our team. This actually happens to be one of the most difficult and challenging tasks picking those candidates that are good enough to step through the doors of our academy.​
Last sentence is lacking grammar and highly defensive: we really are selective! really! "good enough to step through our doors"...wow.

It goes on:
Based on your experience you will be directed to our Pro Team or Amateur Team, therefore, please be very specific when filling out this form, as it would help us to determine the level of your experience. Please, keep in mind that we base our selection on many factors and not your WIN/LOSS record, or lack thereof, so please be truthful with your information as we are here to make you a better Martial Artist and help your MMA career grow.​
Just after they get done saying how fucking amazing they are at spotting talent, they make sure to ask you to be very accurate and tell them exactly how much experience you have. They make sure to point out again you DON'T need even need to be a fighter with a record. They are showing some deep psychological projection by reinforcing you must be truthful on your application... showing their natural state of mind is that everyone (they) are always lying ...

Next on our tour through the new fighter form, you find LOTS of conflicting information where you can see the language is just desperate to get people in:
Unless you are a Pro fighter with an established record, there will be tryouts in order to be accepted for the Amateur MMA Program membership (For local fighters). If you were accepted to stay in the facility and coming from out of state, or country, you don't have to go through tryout. Tryouts are 30 minutes long, consisting of shadowboxing, mitts work, heavy-bag work, some wrestling and grappling. If you have passed the evaluation, you will be accepted to the program. The tryout price is $40 dollars.
Tryouts are not necessary for people coming to live at the academy as they will be screened by their applcation.
Do not worry if you are lacking in some aspects of Mixed Martial Arts, we can tell your abilities right away and we know a good prospect when we see one.​
hahaha... I wonder how they tell a good prospect... what is the mystery criteria ? perhaps a large endowed bank account?
do note that if you have been accepted and from out of country, you don't pay. probably easier to smuggle people over the border that way.

Website was developed by "KEYPYTHON PRODUCTIONS" (link is dead). Googling around, I found that link on the Facebook profile for Gym General Manager who sent me the Chatbot message. He seems to be a random Russian manager with a dead website and an inactive YouTube page with stale hype videos from 3-5 years ago. He seems to have run Boyetz Fight Team in the past.
Favorite quote (from Facebook): Behind every great fortune there is a great crime! (lol Jon Jones)
So basically, a guy who has been kicking around the MMA scene gets the top job at the "best gym" and also is given the job of Webmaster/site desginer. Jesus.
His company KeyPython also made this MMA website gem for "Edson Carvalho". At least on the Team Carvalho website they link a proper new fighter form which mentions risk and injury and all the things you'd expect...

In a final stroke of DODGY BULLSHIT, the website pushes this CageHunter app who paid for a spot on the main page. They are clearly so fucking dodgy they show a screenshot of the app with text "Click to view fighter profile on SHAREDOG". Trying to avoid lawsuits by monetising another company's product. I don't have the energy left to research this app, but it looks like a way for whoever runs it to see all the fighter deals/manager offers and skim the data for other nefarious purposes. Probably would be an amazing advantage in negotiation with the UFC if you could get a measure of the offers and last $dollar value of contracts. ALL OF THE LINKS ON THE CAGEHUNTER SITE ARE DEAD. No privacy policy, no terms of conditions, no "about us" ... when you read the site code you find all sorts of broken english like "We are really sorry. Fighter or page you are looking does not exist".
On Google Play, Cagehunter was built by a developer with only 2x MMA apps: "ZWIZU, spol. s r. o.". This is a Slovakian registered business, I found some of their financial information from an extract from the Business Register of the District Court Bratislava. Looks like 4x people own the company 25% each (to the tune of 1.6k euros). Apparently they made 22 761 € in sales...

CHERRY ON TOP for the Cagehunter debacle is this Freelancer.com link where the app coder seeks out a lawyer and explains he offered 20% of the profits in exchange for JacksonWink pushing Cagehunter through their "powerful connections":
Projektin kuvaus
Hi Charles A., I'm here with the second contract.
Things are same as previous. I have mobile app and I need partnership agreement.
Agreement is about partnership of the Company: CageHunter LLC (Delaware)
Whereas I own all intellectual property, whole code and development. I'm also doing marketing in Europe.
Whereas my Partner as very famous MMA gym will promote the CageHunter app by his fighter's social networks and by his own powerful contacts on MMA scene (managers, promoters...)
I will own 80% of net profit and my partner will get 20% of net profit.
I'm giving this 20% to my Partner for free. It's all about thrust, where I believe, that my partner will promote the app in the future, after contract will be signed. As reward I'm giving to my Partner 20% of net profit of the CageHunter app.
I'll set up an bank account for incoming payments. My Partner will have always right to see balance of this account as well as all accounting books.
Also I need clause in the contract about selling the company. If (one day) I'm going to sell the CageHunter LLC company to anyone. My Partner will get 20% of net selling price (20% after all taxation, etc.)
If you will need any other details, just let me know.
Paul​
Here is the other job he wanted, an animation for the app, featuring lots of fighter names from Oktagon MMA (because they paid to advertise on that show obviously).
We need short advertisement animation. 10s long animation about website www.cagehunter.com
What we need is to make short animation about few steps:
1. moving from homepage to search
2. search 77kg weight category
3. Send offer as matchmaker to three fighters (Boraros, Hanulay, Cajnak)
4. accept one of them in messages (namely Gabor Boraros) and than it moves to the logo cagehunter
5. Final logo will be on white background (clean design).
6. This logo will go little bit transparent and there will be in background (30-40% transparency) short video how referee is raising Gabor Boraros's hand as winner. I'm attaching video footage. Use just few seconds of it.
All I want is clean nice design, mostly white. If you will add any text, please use clean design as well.
The point is to make 10 seconds long advertisement where customers will find out how the website is working, that that's the place where you can register your self as fighter and MMA matchmakers can send you offers - which can brings you great fights.​
So it's an online recruitment app / fighter marketplace / Manager portal... to "brings you great fights".
JacksonWink are in bed with a bunch of Slovakians attempting to get into the Manager game by abusing the relationships of JacksonWink.

I'm flabbergasted...

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damn, Heather looks angry and ice cold for someone running a charity...
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current gym manager's link to Khabib:
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Related background reading in case you don't know who JacksonWink were:
https://www.mmamania.com/2018/8/29/...ey-let-bums-off-street-spar-with-fighters-mma
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That is some strong investigative work

Publish this on a news site
 
How much is personal training with Holly? I'd prefer to train with her in private because I can't perform with an audience.
 
EdmundsEmptyBankAccount said:
Appreciate the feedback!
I would welcome any connections you have in that world! I am keen to pursue the opportunity to write for a publication.
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I got some connections, for instance you could start with writing up a Bellator or UFC event. But no insinuations. You go too far, could be classed as libel.
 
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