Greg Jackson Responds- “I’m not choosing sides”

Added on Mar 23, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Greg Jackson has finally responded to the out cry from Rashad Evans. Rashad has been tearing at Jon Jones, now calling him Judas Jones, and Greg Jackson for the rift that could rip the camp in two. Rashad has said he reluctantly agreed to have Jones come into the infamous camp even though he had warned Jackson of a possible problem further along the line. I don’t think anyone expected for Jon Jones to ‘grow up’ this fast in the sport, and I am sure it took everyone by surprise, but as of right now Jackson isn’t going to be a part of this fight.

Jackson told MMAfighting that the reaction of Rashad Evans confuses him. He said “I love Rashad to death. I’m not sure why he’s angry at me. I guess I can see from a perspective, that isn’t really the way it is, why he’s angry, but I don’t have any animosity towards him. I’ve always tried to help him out. I was with him right after he won that reality show all the way to his world title. I’m not sure what it is.”

I am not sure if Jackson really doesn’t understand what is going on. This has happened at Camp Jackson before when Diego Sanchez temporarily left and dropped down to 155 because Jackson brought on Georges St. Pierre. However, Jackson is standing by how he handled the situation. He said “The thing with Rashad is, he said he was okay with Jon coming on the team. I felt that Jon did the wrong thing by saying he would fight Rashad. But once they signed to fight, I’m staying out of it. I’m not choosing Rashad over Jon Jones or Jon Jones over Rashad; I’m staying out of the entire thing. Everybody signed on to [Jon] being on the team. It wasn’t like I brought him on with these evil intentions. I bring a lot of training partners on to the team who are in the same weight class. For instance, Donald Cerrone, Melvin Guillard, Clay Guida – all these guys are in the same division.”

Rashad has been quoted as saying that Jackson made this mess, and he needs to clean it up. He has been very clear that he doesn’t agree with Jackson’s actions. Jackson says “I’m not sure what it is. Maybe [it's the situation], but Rashad is coming straight at me, [saying] ‘Greg Jackson did this and Greg Jackson did that.’ I’m the one that’s not choosing. I’m staying neutral. I’m not going to tell you you can’t fight. You’re both grown-ass men. I’m not the boss of either of you, and I’m not your dad.” Jackson went on to say that he has had to say no because of team dynamic before. He said “There’s a lot of people I’ve turned away, and that goes to more evidence that Jon was welcome on the team, because there have been some incredible fighters, and I’m not going to name names, but incredible fighters who I’ve had to say no to. If I was all about the bigger, better deal, which some people might think, I would take those guys on. But I didn’t because everyone has to be okay with it, and they weren’t. I’m very careful about how I do that.”

Jackson realizes that the game is changing and the pressure for his fighters to fight is growing and growing, and if his camp doesn’t change with it they are doomed. Jackson said “We have to sit down and find a way to have a team dynamic and yet deal with the situation so that we don’t get caught like we just caught with this thing. We’re going to meet with the team and I guess we’re going to set protocols up for this sort of thing, because we’re living in a monopoly. There’s really only one game in town and it’s the UFC, period. Anybody who gets powerful enough to even come close to that is going to be absorbed by the UFC, and that’s fine. I really enjoy working with the UFC, but that brings its own realities. The reason I don’t like fighting each other is we’ve got to have a cooperative, competitive dynamic. I want to make sure people are still giving each other moves and helping each other out and doing all these things.”

Right now Jackson is saying he won’t be apart of this fight, but I think if Evans keeps running his mouth and attacking his school this could change. This rift could affect many fighters, many coaches, and many teammates. I understand both sides of the argument about teammates fighting teammates, as this isn’t soccer where the play ends when the ball goes out of bounds, but I think this will be a big wake up call to camps all over the world.