Current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones recently announced that Greg Jackson would be cornering him for his title defense against Rashad Evans at UFC 145.
The two fighters had a messy falling out after Jones captured UFC gold in March of 2011 and proclaimed that he would have no problem facing Evans, who at the time was his teammate. As a result, Evans chose to leave the New Mexico gym run by Jackson.
Evans would go on to join Imperial Athletics in Florida, while Jones continued to evolve under the tutelage of Jackson. Over the past year, Evans has scored dominant victories over former champion Tito Ortiz and undefeated prospect Phil Davis. Based on his performances inside the Octagon, it does not appear that Evans is missing his former coach.
Certainly Evans was not happy about the split with Jackson’s MMA, as he predicted it would happen when Jones was asked to join the camp. However, Evans has been joined by former Jackson’s wrestling coach Mike Van Arsdale and has not missed a beat.
While Jones is still maturing and coming into his own as a fighter, Evans is entering his seventh year with the promotion. The former Ultimate Fighter winner has been a consensus top-level competitor throughout his time with the UFC and is hungry to recapture UFC gold.
The announcement that Jackson would be in Jones’ corner should not come as a surprise based on the sequence of events over the past year. The public nature of it may very well be an attempt from Jones to throw Evans off his game, but it is unlikely that it will rattle the former champ.
With two impressive wins under his belt since leaving the camp, Evans will look to use his experience to upset the champion on April 21 in Atlanta. After more than a year away, Evans’ performance against Jones is unlikely to be driven by who is cornering his opponent.
Rob Tatum is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, Follow @RobTatumMMA.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com