Jackson: Jones-Evans Switch ‘Bittersweet’ for Camp

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Trainer Greg Jackson is happy that Jon Jones will be getting a light heavyweight title shot March 19, but he wishes it hadn’t been the result of an injury to a teammate.

Rashad Evans had been scheduled to challenge Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128. A sprained ligament in Evans’ knee forced him out of the bout, though, and allowed Jones to move into his spot.

“It was for all of us -- even for Jon -- it’s kind of a bittersweet thing,” Jackson said on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “We all felt Rashad had earned the title shot, was waiting on the title shot. It was just really bad luck.”

Jackson described Evans’ injury as a “freak accident,” with someone accidentally running into his knee during training. He praised Evans for how he has handled the situation and was not surprised that he supported Jones getting the shot.

“They work together every day,” Jackson said. “That’s the kind of guys they are. They’re buddies. They call each other all the time. They’re really, really good friends.”

Now that it’s possible Jones could soon be the light heavyweight champion, speculation has begun on whether Evans would move to a different division. Jackson said that’s a decision Evans would have to make with his management and the UFC.

“If Rashad wants to go to 185, I’ll hold the bucket for him,” Jackson said. “If he wants to go to 290, I’ll hold the bucket for him. Wherever he wants to go, I’m there.”

The plan had been for Jones to mimic Shogun in training to help prepare Evans. With Evans out and Jones in, Jackson said he’d have to cook up a new strategy.

“It’s a different fight, very much so,” Jackson said. “Rashad and Jon Jones are two different fighters. We have two different plans, two different ideas. It’s very different. … Shogun’s the same fighter. I’m sure he’ll do a new trick or too, but he’s kind of the same fighter. We’re looking out for the same things, but what we’re doing offensively will be different.”

In replacing Evans, Jones will also be fighting for the second time in six weeks. He’s coming off a second-round submission of Ryan Bader at UFC 126. Although Jones took little to no damage in the bout, returning so quickly could be tricky.

“The only thing is making sure Jon Jones peaks at the right time, that he doesn’t overtrain,” Jackson said. “That we make sure that we do it right and that we get the adequate sparring and everything that he needs. Mostly it’s a timing issue on that end of it. That’s very important.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:27:30) with Jackson.