At one time, Greg Jackson wanted to avoid being caught in between the ongoing feud of Jon Jones and Rashad Evans.
But as both competitors are set to face off at UFC 145, Jackson feels like it is necessary that he has to fill a role in some capacity, considering he has coached both Jones and Evans.
While making an appearance on The MMA Hour earlier this week, Jackson said he felt it was his duty to corner Jones over Evans.
“My personal feeling, if I wanted to be a little selfish, I would say, ‘I don’t want to deal with any of it. I don’t want to be there at all.’ But it has to mean something to be on a team,” Jackson said. “It has to mean something, and I felt I had a duty to do that, because Jon’s on the team, so it’s my responsibility to corner him.”
“Even though it’s a really hard decision, I decided to go with it,” he concluded.
Jackson shares history with both Jones and Evans and he admitted there was difficulty having to choose one side over the other. Jackson has been with “Suga” for a majority of his career, including his championship win over Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 in 2008.
Despite the rift that had occurred following Jones’ title win last year, which caused Evans’ departure, Jackson says he still holds himself responsible for their fallout.
Jackson understands the reality of teammates fighting each other, especially when a title is on the line, and he does not intend on getting involved for any future bouts and will leave the training and preparation to other coaches in the camp.
Furthermore, he expects Jones and Evans to resolve their differences following their bout on April 21st.
“In a perfect world, they have a great fight and everybody squashes it and moves on from there, but we’ll see,” he said. “I hope it gets squashed and everything works out after that. That’s my hopeful scenario.”
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