UFC
Coach Mike Winkeljohn says Rashad Evans chose his side against Greg Jackson's camp long ago, will coach Jon Jones in their title bout
Mar 24, 2011 - 9:11:43 AM Coach Mike Winkeljohn says Rashad Evans chose his side against Greg Jackson's camp long ago, will coach Jon Jones in their title bout

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The upcoming Light Heavyweight Championship fight between Jon Jones and his now former teammate Rashad Evans has brought a split between Evans and Greg Jackson's camp that he has called him for several years.

However, though Evans characterized the split earlier this week as being prompted by Jones' decision to say he'd be willing to fight Evans, and ripped into Greg Jackson for bringing Jones into the camp in the first place against his wishes, a different picture of the situation is being painted by others involved.

According to striking coach Mike Winkeljohn, Evans had already turned his back on Jackson's well before this situation with Jones arose.

"I've had some of my best coaching moments with Rashad Evans," Winkeljohn said in an interview with MMAFighting.com. "Kicking Sean Salmon in the head and knocking out Chuck Liddell, you have these cool moments after the fight where you know that what you worked on unfolded just perfectly. And it was great. Things were going well. [After he captured the title] there were a lot of distractions, a lot of extra people in Rashad's ear, him not believing in our game plan. And [against Machida] he just had one of those nights where he didn't perform anywhere close to what he was capable of. All fighters have those nights. It just happens.

"He had a bad night, the night was over, and maybe I made a mistake by not consoling him enough. I know that I was the type who, when I lost a fight, I just wanted to be left alone. I kind of misread that a little bit, but he just didn't do any of our game plan at all. Then he left. He went on the 'Ultimate Fighter' show, he didn't call, and that was it. Then Jon Jones comes in."

Winkeljohn said he was hesitant to coach Jones when the young phenom entered the camp, and expressed his initial allegiance to Evans. But Winkeljohn says Evans didn't respond to him at that point, and now that Evans has essentially fired him, Winkeljohn says he'll be working with Jones when Jones and Evans fight. For him, Evans chose his own side in the battle long ago.

"The sides were chosen a ways back," Winkeljohn said. "I feel bad saying that, but I don't want to look like a bad guy and I don't want [the Greg Jackson team] to look like a bad guy. Rashad lost to Machida, and he basically left. I know he left me, so that's how I feel. Choosing sides? I don't know if that's the term for it, but he made that choice. I didn't make that choice."

"A lot of us are to blame. I think it's an unfortunate series of events that's going to happen more and more. Everybody wants a title. Bringing Jon Jones in, you know, if we would have known ahead of time that this would happen, we might not have brought him in. I don't know, it's tough. But I don't know if that's why Rashad left, or if it was because he didn't trust us after he lost to Machida. Maybe it was a combination. I don't know. I care about both guys and if there's anybody out there who has the tools to beat Jon Jones, it's Rashad Evans. If he uses them and he shows up mentally prepared, Jon Jones is in for a long night."

For Greg Jackson, he still isn't entirely sure where things went wrong with Evans, and thought the former champ was on board with Jones joining the camp initially or, as he says, he wouldn't have brought Jones in.

"There's a lot of people I've turned away, and that goes to more evidence that Jon was welcome on the team," he said in a separate interview with MMAFighting.com. "Because there have been some incredible fighters – and I'm not going to name names – but incredible fighters who I've had to say no to. If I was all about the bigger, better deal, which some people might think, I would take those guys on. But I didn't because everyone has to be okay with it, and they weren't. I'm very careful about how I do that."

Jackson maintains his neutrality in the situation, and at the same time says it's not his job to tell the two men they can't fight if that's ultimately what is going to happen.

"I'm not sure what it is. Maybe [it's the situation], but Rashad is coming straight at me, [saying] 'Greg Jackson did this and Greg Jackson did that.' I'm the one that's not choosing. I'm staying neutral. I'm not going to tell you you can't fight. You're both grown-ass men. I'm not the boss of either of you, and I'm not your dad."

Penick's Analysis: There are a lot of wrinkles to this situation, and Winkeljohn's story lessens the sympathy towards Evans in this spot. He even admitted he hadn't really worked with Jackson for his last couple of fights, and he's now turned his attention to Trevor Wittman with Grudge and is bringing Mike Van Arsdale with him to Florida to train for the Jones fight. It seems like this split was well on its way to happening regardless of Jon Jones, and it was simply Jones' willingness to take the fight after winning the title that became the final thing to fall to prompt the full exit.

[Rashad Evans art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]