Gregory Jackson (born 1974) is an American

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

(MMA) trainer who co-owns

Jackson Wink MMA Academy Jackson Wink MMA Academy (formerly known as Jackson's Submission Fighting) is a mixed martial arts gym based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The gym has been featured in several sports documentaries and has been called one of the best MMA gyms in the ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, widely considered one of the top MMA training centers in the world. Jackson has trained many successful fighters, including former

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Jon Jones Jonathan Dwight Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which he has competed in the light heavyweight division. He is a former two-time UFC L ...

, former

UFC Welterweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Georges St-Pierre Georges St-Pierre (; born May 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-division champion in the Ult ...

, former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion

Holly Holm Holly Rene Holm (born October 17, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, and a former professional boxer. She was a multiple-time wor ...

, former Light Heavyweight Champion

Rashad Evans Rashad Anton Evans (born September 25, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist. Evans started his professional career in 2003, he was the Heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 and is also a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and a 2 ...

, and a roster of other UFC contenders and

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC ...

champions.

History

Greg Jackson was born in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

to Kris and Jim Jackson, who were

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

s originally from the Midwest. Jackson and his family moved to

when he was three years old. Jackson came from a family of wrestlers (his father, brother, and uncle were all champions in the sport). Jackson grew up in a rough neighborhood, and began learning

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

to defend himself. As a result, he was suspended from school for instigating fights on more than one occasion. In 1992, after graduating from

Rio Grande High School Rio Grande High School is a public high school located in South Valley, New Mexico, United States, with an Albuquerque postal address. It is part of the Albuquerque Public Schools system. Athletics RGHS competes in the New Mexico Activities As ...

, Jackson founded his own

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

, Gaidojutsu, which combines rudimentary techniques from

catch wrestling Catch wrestling (originally catch-as-catch-can) is a classical hybrid grappling style and combat sport. It was developed by J. G. Chambers in Britain . It was popularised by wrestlers of travelling funfairs who developed their own submission h ...

and

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

with basic

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

locks. His school officially turned into an MMA school in 2000. In 2007, Jackson teamed up with striking coach Mike Winkeljohn, which was a seminal moment for Jackson's academy; since then, the gym has been known as ''

(JW MMA Academy)'',Wright, Rick (August 3, 2014
MMA: Coaching team has it all covered

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was c ...

Retrieved October 15, 2014 representing the partnership between Jackson and Winkeljohn.

Awards

Greg Jackson and his gyms have won five World MMA Awards altogether. He won the Coach of the Year award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. His old gym, Greg Jackson Fighting Systems won the Gym of the Year award in 2009. The contemporary Jackson-Wink MMA Academy won the same award in 2015.

Books

In 2009, Jackson released an instructional book about his fighting style called ''Jackson's MMA - The Stand Up Game''. In 2010, Jackson released another instructional book about his ground fighting style called ''Jackson's MMA - The Ground Game''.

Reality television

On February 5, 2013, Jackson signed with Bellator to coach on the promotion's reality series titled '' Fight Master: Bellator MMA''.

References

External links

Jacksons Wink MMA Academy - Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Greg Mixed martial arts trainers Martial arts school founders Living people Sportspeople from Albuquerque, New Mexico 1974 births