The Greg Jackson Factor

At UFC 154, not only did we see the remarkable return of GSP but we got to see two fighters in the main event fight without a familiar face in their camp and corner. That face being none other than famed MMA coach Greg Jackson. He is known in the MMA community as one of the best fight strategist and has the portfolio of trained fighters to prove it. Jackson often gets credited with masterful game plans which give his fighters the greatest chance at victory. So how good is Greg Jackson?

Now, we know that no matter how good a coach is, it is still up to the fighter to execute the fight plan when the cage door closes so in reality, you can’t just only look at a coach’s record and determine their level of influence. There are other factors that may mask the influence of a coach like fighting through injuries/illness, unfavorable match-ups and those judge’s decision that make you jump out of your seat screaming “what fight were they watching?”. However, the law of averages should even out some of those factors and fighter records with and without Jackson should give us some helpful insight into his influence.

Brian Stann

The sample size for Brian Stann’s record without Jackson is very minimal but it’s interesting to look at his last 5 fights with Jackson. All three wins were impressive finishes which brought him into the discussion of top UFC middleweights. His losses during that time were to Chael Sonnen and Phil Davis, which are both nothing to scoff at. However, for his last two fights, he decided to switch camps to Atlanta to be closer to home and family. After knocking out Sakara, he lost to perennial top middleweight contender Bisping which was nothing to be shocked about but it’ll be interesting to see how he performs while training away from Jackson’s in his next fight.

Rashad Evans

Much has been said about the TUF Season 2 winner’s departure from the Jackson camp. Long story short for those new to MMA, Rashans Evans and Jon Jones went from friends to arch enemies and Jackson was stuck right in the middle. At Jackson’s, Evans developed into a top light heavyweight and former champion. Since leaving to start the Blackzilians, he has defeated Tito Ortiz and Phil Davis while losing a title fight to Jones. While his record with his new camp isn’t great, a lost to Jones doesn’t really say much as the current champ looks unstoppable. With that said, his last two fights with Davis and Jones hasn’t been exactly impressive. There is no doubt the Blackzilian’s camp have a ton of talented fighters in their stable but the coaching and planning is still a work in progress which has affected Evan’s performances.

Diego Sanchez

Like Evans, Diego Sanchez left Jackson’s due to the coach bringing in a team mate who was contending for the same title. Turns out Jackson made a pretty good choice as that team mate is Georges St. Pierre. Prior to Sanchez’s departure from Jackson’s, he had won 17 straight fights before losing two in a row. After moving to his new camp, Sanchez raked up four straight wins to earn himself a shot at the lightweight belt. He would go on to lose convincingly to BJ Penn and follow that up with an upset lost to John Hathaway. Looking for a boost, he returned to Jackson’s and has looked rejuvenated in victories against Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann but fell short to Jake Ellenberger. Nonetheless, he has looked a bit more like his old self since moving back to Albuquerque.

Melvin Guillard

Throughout Melvin Guillard’s career, there was a clear pattern to his defeats. He was very susceptible to submissions but in his last five fights with Jackson, it seemed like he was breaking that pattern with five straight impressive victories. However, with more fighters joining the Jackson camp, Guillard felt he needed a more intimate camp setting where he would get more coaching attention. Unfortunately, since his move to the Blackzilians, he has struggled with three defeats in his last four fights while getting submitted twice.

Andrei Arlovski

In a reversal compared to the previous four fighters we’ve looked at, Andrei Arlovski decided to join Jackson’s recently after struggling in his previous four fights. Arlovski looked like a shell of his old self losing four straight with 3 of those defeats by TKO/KO. Arlovski had trained with Jackson previously but it was only in a part time capacity. His trainers at Team Pitbull urged him to retire but Jackson disagreed and Arlovski began training exclusively training with the acclaimed coach. Since then, he has won four times with one no contest but that decision is highly controversial with many in the industry arguing that it should have been a victory. We can blame One FC for their confusing soccer kick rule. Although the quality of his opponents may not be the highest, he looks to be rebuilding himself back to his old form under the guidance of Jackson.

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