I posted yesterday’s Fight Fix (video re-posted for those that missed it) where host Dustin Green talked to UFC President Dana White about his criticism of Greg Jackson-trained and cornered fighters. Well, Jackson heard the criticism and is none too pleased. I’ve suspected White’s criticism is less about being a substantive claim and more about being part of a comprehensive effort to encourage fighters to practice more aggressive game plans, but Jackson responded nonetheless. To wit:
“Here’s a quick stat for you. So there’s been 22 [UFC events] this year? We had 12 bonuses so far this year,” Jackson said in a phone interview. “So one out of every two, one of my fighters got Submission of the Night, Knockout of the Night, or Fight of the Night.”
It’s the kind of statistic he wishes White would have looked at before telling CSN Washington that Jackson’s fighters were being too conservative in their efforts, saying, “There’s obviously some consistency there with the Jackson camp and being safety-first.”
“We sat down and did the math after we heard that,” Jackson said. “He wants to say there’s a consistency? Okay, let’s look at statistical consistencies. Let’s look at Jon Jones, who has finished every fight with me in the first round, except for that Matt Hamill one, which would have been a first-round stoppage anyway if he hadn’t thrown that illegal elbow.
“Let’s look at Carlos Condit, who had Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night. Even people on the undercard who people don’t really know yet. Kyle Noke, two finishes, both in the second round. Almost everybody on our team finishes consistently. There’s no fact. Everybody’s just making stuff up.”
I don’t think the criticism is completely without merit. On stages large and small Greg Jackson fighters have had tentative, risk averse performances that are memorable for being just that: risk averse. I’ve long criticized Georges St. Pierre’s performance against Dan Hardy for being unnecessarily focused on risk management. Locally, John Dodson received a ton of criticism in the UWC for avoiding exchanges and using defensive movement while (seemingly) ahead on the scorecards against both Mike Easton and Jose Villarisco. Fairly or unfairly, letdown performances like these take cognitive preeminence over a wider record of crowd-friendly finishes and legitimate accomplishments. Fortunately for Jackson, the reality is in examining the full record of fighter performances, there simply is not enough data to support White’s claims.
Jackson ends with a note of satisfaction after exploring the numbers:
“It was a morale booster for me, anyway,” he said. “It’s nice to have cold, hard facts sometimes.”
Jackson’s record is as exemplary as they come. I’m not sure White was ever being serious, but it’s probably better Jackson did the math and went public with the pushback.
UPDATE: It appears the Jackson camp has released a list of accomplishments from their fighters that further challenges Dana White’s claims. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see it.