Quick Quote: Greg Jackson’s Challenge

Trainer Greg Jackson raved about UFC light heavyweight prospect Jon Jones on Monday’s Savage Dog Show with Jeff Sherwood, and offered some insight into the challenge of mentoring a 23-year-old fighter with such phenomenal potential.

“It’s a lot of fun and it’s a real challenge, because you want him to have strong basics, but you can’t give him the basics in the normal way, because you don’t want him to lose his creativity, and his flair, his explosiveness; and all these things that make him great.

“So the real challenge for me is to keep him exciting, while allowing him to progress. On the ground, and his wrestling, kickboxing and stuff. So it’s a lot of fun to be in that challenge. To be able to keep a guy creative and flowing was kind of the other side of that: Making sure that the basics are really strong as well so if we get in trouble, we can get out. That makes it a really, really fun and exciting process for me.”

Jones (10-1), of Rochester, N.Y., will take on Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4) on Sunday at UFC on Versus 2.

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Listen to Monday's interview with Greg Jackson

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