UFC
Jon Jones' trainer Greg Jackson tries to clear up "get some fans" comment after UFC 140 win
Dec 12, 2011 - 1:00:13 PM Jon Jones' trainer Greg Jackson tries to clear up "get some fans" comment after UFC 140 win

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Greg Jackson and Jon Jones came under a little fire on Sunday when a video circulated from Saturday night's UFC 140 event. In the video, Jackson is heard yelling to Jones after his win over Lyoto Machida to go check on his opponent to "get some fans." As Jones has continued to gain a reputation for false humbleness in his public persona, the comments didn't come off well for the two of them. In an interview with MMAJunkie.com on Monday, Jackson attempted to clear up his intent of the situation, saying he was trying to snap Jones out of "the zone" and back into professional mode after the finish:

"I shouldn't have spoken in that way, but that wasn't my intention. It sounded bad, but moronic [expletive] comes out of my mouth sometimes. What I was saying was, 'Go check on Lyoto,' what I meant was to remember that you're a public figure. There's always attention on you and what you're doing all the time, and there's cage etiquette. There's things you're supposed to do, and going and checking on somebody is what you're supposed to do.

And now because I'm in military mode and in shorthand mode, I say, 'Jon, go check on Lyoto and go get some fans,' and what I should have said was, 'You're a public figure. There's a way to conduct yourself.' But instead, I shorthanded it. That's the point I want to drive home. Jon is a really good guy. Everybody is just attacking his character because that's what you have to attack when you can't attack somebody's fighting.

It's not that he was a bad guy. You just literally go crazy. None of these guys outside of the cage could understand that after the fight, you're in the zone, man. It's such an intense camp, especially for Jon, month after month, fight after fight.

Let's take B.J. Penn for an example. He's actually a really nice guy; he walks around licking blood off his gloves all the time. Chuck Liddell is one of the sweetest, nicest guys you'll ever meet, but when he knocks you unconscious, he runs around screaming and pumping his arms. That's not normal behavior. So my job with Jon is to remind him. When the referee said break, he broke, and then he was still there in that zone. I was like, 'Now, it's time to relax and calm down and check on the guy.' I should have said, 'Remember your public figure.' But like I say, 'Go get some Donald Cerrone,' I said, 'Go get some fans."

Penick's Analysis: It makes sense that he'd need to attempt to snap Jones out of fight mode, and it's a certainly reasonable explanation for why he said anything like that, but it also didn't come off well the way he worded it. Really, Jones is so incredible in the cage he shouldn't be doing anything outside of it that isn't him. He's a young, confident, and incredible fighter, and if he's not the fan favorite, who cares? He can be a big star as himself, whatever that may truly be, but anything that comes off as fake or phony is going to lead to some backlash from fans.