“Honestly, I think Jon Jones is bad for the sport, because when he fights people, he injures us. He kicked my knee backwards. My knee has never been the same. He’s doing it to a couple of other guys. I saw him rip one guy’s shoulder out of his socket (Glover Teixiera). We just try to do the same thing he’s trying to do, earn a living and do the sport that we love. We don’t go in there and try and injure people… I tried to fold [Ricardo] Arona in half, but it was because of something he did to me. He did some big stuff to me behind the scenes that people don’t know about. But this guy’s (Jones) doing it to every opponent. He’s kicking their knees backwards and really trying to hurt people. So I think that’s bad for the sport.”
-Quinton “Rampage” Jackson talks to AXS TV’s Inside MMA program and expresses his thoughts on Jon Jones the fighter (transcribed by MMAFighting.com).
Penick’s Analysis: It’s a combat sport; the goal of a fight is to knock out or submit your opponent. Jones uses some questionable techniques, sure, but he’s not using illegal blows with those oblique kicks and the move he pulled on Teixeira in the clinch. I don’t think Jones’ tactics are “bad for the sport,” and I don’t think he’s out there as maliciously as Jackson is suggesting, but obviously some of the moves he utilizes aren’t seen by tons of other fighters. Is that because they’re not as capable of pulling off moves like that? Or because they see it in the same vein as Jackson? Hard to say, but I doubt we see Jones changing his tactics over a complaint from Rampage.
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