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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"Well, you know, it’s a lot of fun and it’s a real challenge because you want him to have strong basics but you can’t give him the basics in the normal way because you don’t want him to lose his creativity and his flair and his explosiveness and all of these things that make him great. So the real challenge for me is to keep him excited while allowing him to progress, you know, on the ground and his wrestling, kickboxing, and stuff. So, it’s a lot of fun to be in that challenge, to be able to keep a guy creative and flowing with kind of the other side of that making sure that his basics are really strong as well, so if we get in trouble we can get out. And so that makes it a really, really fun and like I said, exciting process for me...
I think he easily is as good, if not better than Vladimir [Matyushenko] only because of his unique wrestling style. He has a style that if you haven’t dealt with it it’s very, very difficult to deal with. So, Matyushenko’s of course much more decorated wrestler and has probably more experience but I think what negates that is Jon Jones is unorthodox wrestling. He has moves where you think it’s all over and you got him and all of a sudden you find yourself on your back and not really knowing how you got there. So, it’s one of those things that it’s hard to just gauge wrestling to wrestling because Jon Jones is kind of unorthodox and Matyushenko is so solidly experienced that I think I feel very comfortable in the wrestling department. I fully expect [Jon Jones] to get taken down at some point in the fight and we’ll be ready for that if it happens. If it doesn’t happens, that’s great. We’re definitely prepare for the contingency if he does get taken."
-Renowned trainer Greg Jackson talks to Sherdog.com (transcribed by Zach Arnold at FightOpinion.com) about working with UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones and how he matches up with Vladimir Matyushenko this Sunday.
Penick's Analysis: Not all of Jackson's gameplans are implemented to perfection by his fighters, but there's a reason he's one of the most highly regarded trainers and strategic minds in the sport. He realizes that he's got a very unique athlete in Jones, and it's great to hear that Jones continues to come into his training without an ego, as a 23 year old kid that still knows his place despite all of the praise he is deservedly receiving for the insane ascent up the ladder he's had. This fight with Matyushenko on Sunday should be quite the interesting light heavyweight bout, there's no doubt about that.
RELATED STORY: UFC QUOTABLES: Jon Jones getting more confident, feels "sharper than ever": [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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