UFC middleweight contender Tim Kennedy knows that Greg Jackson’s MMA, his home away from home, gets a bad rep for teaching fighters how to fight safe and outpoint their opponents in the cage.
In a recent interview with MMA Mania, the respected United States Army veteran did everything he could to dispel this notion.
“… If you look at the past ten fights. The fighters that have won the ‘submission of the night’, the ‘knockout of the night’, and ‘fight of the night’ bonuses are almost exclusively Jackson guys,” Kennedy said. “In my last fight camp, it was me, Rustam (Khabilov), Adlan (Amagov), and (Donald) Cerrone, all in fight camp at the same time. All of us fighting three weeks apart and all of us had a ‘knockout of the night’ or ‘fight of the night.’ Then you look at Firas (Zahabi) and you look at Rory MacDonald … I remember when he fought Nate Diaz and it was extreme grappling, vicious strikes. That guy was scary. Now we’re two years removed from that fight and the transition is now a guy jabbing from the outside. Not even in volume. It’s just horrible. It’s so boring.”
Bleacher Report then reached out to Kennedy directly to elaborate on the matter at hand.
“I was referring to Rory MacDonald and GSP compared to the current crop of Jackson’s (MMA) fighters: Rustam (Khabilov), Adlan (Amagov), “Cowboys” Cerrone and myself. All of us won our respective fights with a finish,” Kennedy said over the phone.
“Jackson’s is producing exciting finishes: leaping left hooks, spinning heel kicks, triangle chokes…bringing home Fight Night bonuses. … GSP, when was his last finish? I don’t even know.
“If we’re going to call out coaches, let’s make sure we call out the right ones. The biggest, most dramatic change is guys from there (Tristar Gym).”
Kennedy is currently ranked the No. 10 middleweight in the world, according to the UFC’s official rankings, and captured Knockout of the Night honors for stopping Rafael Natal with strikes at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 earlier this month.
Lightweight Rustam Khabilov earned Fight of the Night honors for upsetting former Strikeforce title challenger Jorge Masvidal on the same card, dropping “Gamebred” with a spinning wheel kick in the third round.
Fellow Russian striker Adlan Amagov competed at UFC 166, stopping grappling ace T.J. Waldburger with brutal punches in the opening frame of their bout last month.
Most recently, former WEC champ Donald Cerrone put on a vintage performance against Evan Dunham at UFC 166 last Saturday, tapping out the scrappy wrestler with a triangle choke in the second frame.
Cerrone took home the Submission of the Night bonus for the stoppage.
For the record, the first time “Rush” trained at Zahabi’s Tristar gym was prior to his second win over BJ Penn at UFC 94 in January 2009, splitting teams between Jackson’s MMA and Tristar for that particular fight camp.
Additionally, this was the last time St-Pierre finished a fight, as Penn’s corner threw in the towel in between the fourth and fifth rounds, giving the champ a TKO via a corner’s stoppage.
St-Pierre then left Jackson’s MMA in favor of the Tristar Gym prior to his title bout with Jake Shields at UFC 129 in April 2011.
As for MacDonald, he trained at the Toshido Fighting Arts Academy but opted for the move to Tristar after losing to Carlos Condit at UFC 115 in June 2010.
He’s compiled a 5-1 record since then, with two victories coming by way of TKO.
Kennedy also told Bleacher Report that he currently doesn’t have a fight line up, though it is pretty obvious he is eyeing a showdown with perennial contender Michael Bisping next.
“I’m really diligent in rehabbing my quad injury, and while I rehab, I’m attacking the guy I want to fight the most,” Kennedy said, though also noting that the fight has not been formally offered yet by the UFC.
Does Kennedy make a valid point that really hasn’t been made publicly about Zahabi and the Tristar Gym with his comments here?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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