Miss Manners guide to fighting your friends
SENIORITY RULES As the Evans vs. Jones family feud broke out after UFC 128, the very pained Greg Jackson told…
SENIORITY RULES
As the Evans vs. Jones family feud broke out after UFC 128, the very pained Greg Jackson told Ariel Helwani he loves Rashad like a brother and said he plans to stay neutral.”. Martial arts studios are not families, but they do have 1,500 years of hard-earned etiquette. And one of the rules is: when a conflict between students arises, the senior is given preference, not the better prospect. That is the price of loyalty.
When Matt Serra faced GSP for their rematch (UFC 83), their mutual BJJ coach, John Danaher, chose to train Serra, despite having more fond feelings for GSP, because Serra was Renzo Gracie Academy’s senior student.
As Fowlkes reported in his excellent article: when Evan Dunham and Tyson Griffon, both Xtreme Couture teammates, faced each other, Dunham graciously found another gym because Griffon was senior.
Greg Jackson should have asked Jones to leave and Evans to stay and aggressively agreed to train, coach, and corner Rashad for the match. That he didn’t says a great deal more about where his heart lies than any protestations of brotherly love.
Below Jackson lays provides details and reasoning behind the “divorce.”
