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St-Pierre fights for Jackson's reputation at UFC 124

Georges St-Pierre is fighting for Jackson's reputation this weekend © Getty Images

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The verbal war between UFC president Dana White and leading MMA trainer Greg Jackson comes into sharp focus this weekend with Jackson's star pupil, Georges St-Pierre, set to fight at UFC 124, where the fight philosophy of the Jackson camp can be put to the test.

Since Nate Marquart dropped a unanimous decision to Yushin Okami in their middleweight No. 1 contender bout at UFC 122 last month, White has expressed his belief that Jackson instills a safety-first mentality into his athlete's fight preparations. Focusing on the Marquardt bout in particular, White took issue after hearing the fighter being told by his corner that he was winning the fight.

With a mixed bag of results for the camp in 2010, there is evidence both for and against the cautious accusation presented by the UFC president. With that in mind it seems relevant to look at some of the biggest names within the camp and to take a closer look at their recent performances.

Shane Carwin began 2010 the same way as he ended 2009, with another first-round knockout. This time - at UFC 111 in March - it was Frank Mir who was on the receiving end of Carwin's ferocious ground and pound. The win saw Carwin claim the interim heavyweight championship, in the absence of reigning undisputed champion Brock Lesnar, as well as being awarded his first UFC Knockout of the Night honour. Although he later came up short against returning champion Lesnar, Carwin was within touching distance of being crowned the undisputed heavyweight king himself before eventually being submitted in the second round.

Despite the loss, it was a typically savage first round on the part of Carwin as he went at Lesnar with the same bulldozing aggression that had seen all twelve of his previous opponents fail to even survive a round with the hardest hitter in MMA. If there is one man in all of MMA who cannot be considered cautious, it is Carwin.

Reverting back to UFC 111, Carwin's stable-mate Georges St-Pierre was equally masterful in his five-round dominance of British star Dan Hardy when the two clashed for the Canadian's welterweight belt. While St-Pierre received criticism for not finishing the bout, credit had to be given to Hardy for surviving a number of eye watering, bone-bending submission attempts to see the fight through to the judge's decision. Nobody could accuse GSP of failing to entertain and, having stopped the likes of Matt Hughes and BJ Penn, he has no case to answer.

Carlos Condit produced a huge KO against Dan Hardy © Getty Images

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Hardy's next opponent would be another member of Jackson's camp, when he took on Carlos Condit in what was the American's second performance under Jackson's tutelage. After an inconsistent start to his UFC career, Condit made the switch to Jackson in a bid to resurrect the dominant champion he once was during his WEC days. The first bout under Jackson saw Condit come back from two rounds down to snatch victory against Rory MacDonald. Having been outwrestled for ten minutes, Condit forced a stoppage with eight seconds to spare to deny MacDonald in his home country.

The win saw both men awarded Fight Of The Night honours and would then set up an autumn showdown between Condit and the aforementioned Hardy in the English capital. With barely 30 seconds remaining in the first round, Condit silenced the 20,000 strong pro-Hardy crowd as he landed a vicious left hook to drop Hardy to the floor. A follow-up assault left the London O2 Arena stunned as the widely regarded granite-chinned Hardy lay unconscious, stopped for the first time in his career.

The win saw Condit claim his second straight Fight Night honour while being thrust into the welterweight title picture for the first time. Condit, who admitted that Hardy was his biggest scalp, could have opted to use his superior ground game to earn the victory, but once again there can be no questioning his efforts to finish a fight.

Nate Marquardt disappointed against Yushin Okami © Getty Images

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Another Jackson student, Nate Marquart, has had an inconsistent year to say the least. Despite being 4-2 in his last six fights, and with all four wins coming via stoppage, Marquart has come in for some criticism upon reflection of his two recent losses. On two occasions in 2010 Marquart found himself one fight away from realising his dream of re-matching Anderson Silva for the middleweight title; and on both occasions Marquart appeared gun-shy as he was outwrestled and outmaneuvered by Chael Sonnen, and more recently, Yushin Okami.

It was the Okami loss that sparked the recent debate with White hitting out at the corner of Marquart for not pushing their man to go for the kill. Known for his ability to finish fights quickly, Marquart adopted a more reserved approach against Okami, which didn't really see him get out of first gear, with little encouragement from his corner to kick things up a notch.

However, while 2010 has been an unfortunate year for Marquardt, Jon Jones has risen from the undercards to shoot up the 205lb ladder at a ferocious pace. Despite his clash with Matt Hamill technically being recognised as his sole career loss, albeit by disqualification, Jones has since defeated Brandon Vera and Vladimir Matyushenko in style. Jones blasted the experienced duo out of the water in devastating fashion, notching up back-to-back first-round stoppage victories to cement himself as a genuine threat to the light-heavyweight throne. As Jackson points out, Jones is not a boring fighter.

Kenny Florian, who uses Jackson among one of several MMA minds, fought twice in 2010 with his first bout resulting in a highly impressive Submission of the Night victory over debuting Japanese star Takanori Gomi. The win saw Florian notch up back-to-back submission victories, having previously despatched Clay Guida, to propel himself into a No. 1 contender eliminator with TUF 5 lightweight Gray Maynard.

Jon Jones has been one of the stars of the year © UFC

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The bout took place at UFC 118 where Florian returned "home" as the UFC hit Boston for the first time. The homecoming didn't quite go to plan as "The Bully" dominated Florian throughout the fight taking him down at will en route to a unanimous decision victory which secured a second showdown with Frankie Edgar. Like Marquardt before, the Maynard defeat saw Florian labelled a big-fight "choker" by president White. The accusation may hold truth, but in Ken-Flo's opinion he was merely outsmarted by the better wrestler.

A number of other fighters have turned to Jackson in recent times, with the likes of Yoshihiro Akiyama and Melvin Guillard joining the team. Diego Sanchez re-joined Jackson as he aimed to prevent a three-fight slide when he took on Paulo Thiago at UFC 121. With many predicting a Thiago win, The Nightmare of old seemed to make a return, picking up Fight of the Night honours after three rounds that covered every inch of the Octagon. With Rashad Evans awaiting a date to face Shogun Rua for the 205lb. title, Jackson could soon have a number of title holders fighting out of his gym. In all reality, Carwin is one or two wins away from a second title shot while Jones will likely have his chance within the year as well, unless his good friend Evans rules the light-heavyweight roost.

It is fair to say that, with the exception of Marquart and Florian struggling with the game-plans of Chael Sonnen, Yushin Okami and Gray Maynard, respectively, Jackson's camp go about their business in a positively aggressive manner. As he says, 12 of 22 UFC events have seen them take home a UFC bonus in 2010.

It is frustrating to see top tier fighters such as Marquart and Florian wilt when a shot at gold is on the line, but sometimes fights don't go the way they do in practice. However, in MMA a fighter does not usually have to wait too long for another chance to prove himself, and in this instance Jackson's camp does not have to wait long for a chance to silence the doubters, with kingpin St-Pierre fighting for the reputation of his entire team - not just himself - this weekend.

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