Greg Jackson Talks Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson II: Let’s Do It
The situation at the top of the UFC light-heavyweight division continues to evolve by the day, and it’s all dependent on the man that holds the belt; Jon Jones. After Daniel Cormier accused Jones of ‘stalling’ over the (hopefully) inevitable rematch with Alexander Gustafsson, questions began to swirl over who the next contender to ‘Bones’ would be. There was even talk of an interim belt at one point.
UFC president Dana White then stated that Jones does not want to fight Gus, even though ‘The Mauler’ is the number one contender, but instead wants to take on Daniel Cormier. Jones’ trainer Greg Jackson has now given his two cents on the puzzling situation, as he spoke with MMAFighting.com:
“Yeah let’s do it. As long as you get here in enough time for camp. … I would not fight [Gustafsson] with one week of camp. But if he wants to get here and get going, absolutely. “All I do is I hold the bucket and I get out,” Jackson said. “Malki [Kawa], First Round Management, that’s their deal and what they do on the business side is their thing. I’m not sure what’s happening [contractually] at all.”
“Me, I’m like ‘here’s the opponent, here’s the best way we can beat them,'” Jackson continued. “The only time I ever interfere is when they ask ‘should I fight somebody on eight days notice,’ which is a math problem and I thought that was not a good idea. That was my foray into management.”
So we can certainly add Jackson to the list (pretty much everyone now) that want to see Jones and Gustafsson rematch their UFC 165 slobber knocker. The two put on by far the best fight of 2013 in my mind, and there is also no reason in my mind that they shouldn’t dance again. That being said, it seems there is still more information to surface. Jackson continued:
“It doesn’t matter, they’re both so tough man,” Jackson said. “They’re both just animals. Whichever one comes up, the important thing is for Jon to have enough time to prepare, to be ready. If you fight a Cormier or a Gustafsson, you gotta come in on the top of your game. So as long as he puts in a full camp and is prepared and ready to rock, I believe in him 100 percent. Both of those guys are so tough, one of the other, there is going to be no easy night on that one.”
Enough said on the Jones story for my liking, as GJ moved on to the subject of Rustam Khabilov. The number 11-ranked lightweight will go up against former 155-pound champion Benson Henderson at Fight Night 42.
“You gotta kind of beat him everywhere. there’s no one spot we’re you’re like, here’s where we’re going to get Benson. You have to be well-rounded to win that fight, win the battle everywhere. The wrestling, the kickboxing, the jiu-jitsu. We’re going to have to try to win every battle we can. We’re going in with that kind of mentality and every part of that fight.”
Onwards and upwards for the team over at Jackson’s MMA, as they continue to harbour and produce elite athletes. Jones is without doubt the greatest talent to emerge from the New Mexico based camp, but is the clock ticking with ‘The Mauler’ in waiting?
