Suga Leaves Team Jackson to Start Own Team

[VCURamFan]

From •MMATorch.com:

Jon Jones' destruction of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128 on Saturday night has set up a bout that, just six weeks ago, was "never going to happen."

Greg Jackson teammate Rashad Evans is the number one contender for Jones' title, and this situation has now split the two of them, and with Evans now on board for a fight he said before he didn't want, he says he's also done with Jackson and his camp.

"I'm done with Jackson's. I'm done," Evans said bluntly to MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani after the fight Saturday. Asked if he felt betrayed by Jackson's camp, Evans simply repeated "I'm done with Jackson's."

Evans went into slightly more detail on Twitter on Sunday, explaining that it was Jackson's decision to bring Jones in initially when Rashad was against the idea.

"Greg brought this situation about," Evans wrote. "He brought Jones on board a while back against my wishes & here we [are] today."

"So I decided [to] leave Greg because I felt like he didn't have my best interest anymore. Greg is not the same coach he use [to be]."

Evans said he's been preparing himself for this matchup mentally, as he believed Jones would do just what he did to Shogun on Saturday night.

"I thought about, it was going to happen even before it happened," he said. "This whole situation is awkward, but it is what it is. I'm happy for the dude, he went out there and fought well… he looked phenomenal, but at the same time, he's got that strap so now I have to go get it. I know I was going to fight him, no matter if he lost tonight or not, I was going to fight him [eventually]...

"His performance was phenomenal. From the minute they [set up] that fight, I knew [Jones] was going to destroy him."

For Greg Jackson, Jones' huge win was a bittersweet moment for him. As a longtime friend and trainer of Evans and mentor and friend to Jones, this is a fight he has no desire to see.

"I'm really happy for Jon Jones, it's a very bittersweet moment for me because Rashad's gotta fight him next," Jackson said in a separate interview with Helwani. "I love Rashad like a brother, I love Jon like a brother. I'm extremely happy for Jon, he showed what he could do, but it's bittersweet."

"I couldn't even be in the cage [for the Jones-Evans faceoff], I'm not going to corner anybody for that fight. The coaches will have to figure it out on their own, but I love Rashad and I love Jon, and I hope after they fight they can be one happy family again, because for me it's all about the love and I won't have anything to do with the two of them fighting."

Helwani informed Jackson of Evans' statement that he was done with the camp, and Jackson was caught off guard, saying it was the first he'd heard of that.

"I'm hoping it's just emotion talking and that won't be the case, cause we love him to death and I love him to death," Jackson said. "This is the first time I'm hearing it. But you know you get emotional and [with] the crowd, there's a lot of things that are said that I hope aren't meant.

"I'm a veteran of a lot of situations, so I'm not going to be tearing my hair out or anything like that... Every great fighter has to be an optimist at heart and I'm an optimist that it's all going to work out."

Jackson said he's not planning on being in the arena when the two eventually meet, and joked that he'd be drowning his sorrows in water because he doesn't drink. For Jackson, this is his opinion on teammates fighting other teammates, and though he sees why the fans and the UFC want to see the fight, it's not something he wants to be a part of.

"How would you feel if your brother was going to fight your brother?" Jackson asked. "Put it on yourself. If everyone was asking 'who's going to win that fight? Your one brother or your other brother?' You'd be like 'I don't really want to see them fight.' That's just me, though.•

"The UFC wants what it wants and the fans want what they want, I'm happy being an unimportant person, so that's just my opinion. I can't win that one so I'm not going to play."

It's rumored that he'll be starting a new gym of his own with•JZ Calvacante, Jorge Santiago and the Villefort brothers, who just recently split from ATT.

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news...ers-leave-ATT/

[F34R]

so... he's gone from "I won't fight him" to "I am fighting him".. and all this baby talk about betrayal and such, after saying that Jones was his friend... I can't stand him, really. Why can't he just do his job, and be respectful about it? If he's just putting on, then it makes it worse because I don't like "fake" people either.

"Look, we're good friends, but we're professionals. We'll fight, then go get a drink afterwards", or something like that... cmon. Step up, Rashad, and be a man; not a punk.

[VCURamFan]

The part that gets me is how he says "Greg brought him in against my wishes," like it's his name on the door & everything needs to be cleared through him.

I know it's really easy to hate on Rashad for any little thing but I'm hearing him out on this one. We don't train there so I'm sure there are some behind the scenes stuff we don't know about. Remember how Diego was really close to a title shot back in 06 and Greg brought the champion into the team knowing that Diego was going after that belt? That's a smack in the face if you ask me considering how long Diego had been there and all of the blood, sweat and tears he put into the gym. Jackson is bringing pretty much every fighter into his gym because it makes financial sense but if that is the case then him trying to get his fighters to promise not to fight each other is silly to me. Rashad has seniority there so I think they should do what Renzo did for Serra when he was going to fight GSP.

This post was way longer than I intended for it to be lol sorry about that.

[F34R]

Well, I understand that point of view about seniority, etc., but Rashad had to pull out, so.. that's surely not Jacksons or Jones fault.

[flo]

Originally Posted by Maldonado136

I know it's really easy to hate on Rashad for any little thing but I'm hearing him out on this one. We don't train there so I'm sure there are some behind the scenes stuff we don't know about. Remember how Diego was really close to a title shot back in 06 and Greg brought the champion into the team knowing that Diego was going after that belt? That's a smack in the face if you ask me considering how long Diego had been there and all of the blood, sweat and tears he put into the gym. Jackson is bringing pretty much every fighter into his gym because it makes financial sense but if that is the case then him trying to get his fighters to promise not to fight each other is silly to me. Rashad has seniority there so I think they should do what Renzo did for Serra when he was going to fight GSP.

This post was way longer than I intended for it to be lol sorry about that.

I think it was just right. Good points.

[Spiritwalker]

Originally Posted by VCURamFan

The part that gets me is how he says "Greg brought him in against my wishes," like it's his name on the door & everything needs to be cleared through him. :rolleyes:

FTW!!

I guess it depends on how you look at Jackson's camp. Is it a training facility or is it a team? If it's a training facility, then anyone who is willing to pay the fee should be able to train there. If it's a team, then it should be more of a "pick and choose" who trains there and who will fight who.

Even as a team, how awesome is it to say you have the #1 and #2 LHW fighters in the world and now they have to fight each other. It's a sport, not a gang war. No reason they can't adjust training schedules so they aren't training at the same time and work towards a great fight.

[Spiritwalker]

Originally Posted by County Mike

I guess it depends on how you look at Jackson's camp. Is it a training facility or is it a team? If it's a training facility, then anyone who is willing to pay the fee should be able to train there. If it's a team, then it should be more of a "pick and choose" who trains there and who will fight who.

It's a training camp.. but per many fighters there.. they are "a team"...

Even as a team, how awesome is it to say you have the #1 and #2 LHW fighters in the world and now they have to fight each other. It's a sport, not a gang war. No reason they can't adjust training schedules so they aren't training at the same time and work towards a great fight.

This gives Evans a built in excuse for losing to Jones.. "Greg knows all my tricks and weaknesses... Of course he is going to show these to Jones"

That way he can throw Jackson's camp under the bus.. and it makes "some sense".. if he stayed with Jackson's.. "He was paying more attention to hom than me.."

[Bonnie]

Originally Posted by VCURamFan

The part that gets me is how he says "Greg brought him in against my wishes," like it's his name on the door & everything needs to be cleared through him.

Originally Posted by County Mike

I guess it depends on how you look at Jackson's camp. Is it a training facility or is it a team? If it's a training facility, then anyone who is willing to pay the fee should be able to train there. If it's a team, then it should be more of a "pick and choose" who trains there and who will fight who.

Even as a team, how awesome is it to say you have the #1 and #2 LHW fighters in the world and now they have to fight each other. It's a sport, not a gang war. No reason they can't adjust training schedules so they aren't training at the same time and work towards a great fight.

Y'all can see where things would get sticky though, right? Especially now that they are supposed to fight each other. Jon Jones just won the belt and now has to fight his team mate to defend it and vice versa his team mate has to fight him to try and take it. And they both train with Jackson. Awkward isn't even the word. Sounds like it's a win-win for Jackson, not so much for Jones or Evans especially seeing how one of them is going to be the winner, the other the loser.

Jackson makes it sound so easy with "the coaches will just have to handle it", but let's be real here. He's not going to want to be in the champ's corner for a title fight? This whole set-up was just screaming "separation and divorce".