Greg Jackson Expects War Between Donald Cerrone & Anthony Pettis

He’ll be cornering Clay Guida against Hatsu Hioki, Donald Cerrone against Anthony Pettis and also John Dodson against UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Ahead of the card, the trainer joined the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show to discuss the matchups and more.

On whether Ricardo Lamas drew the blueprint that Guida should follow against Hioki: “I think there’s important similarities there that Lamas figured out that we need to emulate. Clay is a different fighter in some ways, but I think that when you see something that works, you can say, ‘OK, parts of this worked. This part didn’t,’ and you can build on that for sure. But Clay is very unique, and when Clay’s fighting at his best, he kind of fights almost the same way every time with little, subtle differences, but we’ll definitely be looking to put some pressure on in this fight.”

On “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Pettis: “Cowboy is certainly a little unique in the way he does his striking, and we’ve seen how dynamic Pettis is. I don’t think it will be typical anywhere. On the ground, on the feet, in the wrestling aspect -- I don’t think it’s going to be a typical fight anywhere just because both of these guys are so talented. It’s going to be one of those fights where you have to fight for small things and try to get the advantage where you can. It’s a real war. I’m really looking forward to the fight. Pettis is amazing. He comes from a great camp, and I think it’s going to be a hell of a fight.”

On whether Cerrone has prepared for Pettis’ unorthodox attacks, like the “Showtime” kick: “The nice thing about using the ‘Showtime’ kick -- and you never know if he’s got new tricks or not -- but you know it’s coming. If he jumps up there, Cowboy’s going to say, ‘OK, it’s going to come for the head,’ and hopefully he’ll put his hand up or move out of the way. But definitely, the amount of studying that Cowboy’s done -- he says, ‘Oh, I just get in there and fight,’ but he’s actually pretty smart about what he does and I’m sure he’ll be ready for that. But for me, it’s much more of what we can improve on in Cowboy’s game to stop Pettis from kind of having his way. We focused a lot on that.”

On Johnson-Dodson: “The speed is going to be a factor, I think, for both guys. Understanding that that’s going to be one of the defining things about the fight -- the pace and the speed -- is very important for a game plan. We’re trying to get John as squared away as we can in the time that we have, and he’s looking really good. We know of course Demetrious will be very, very ready. It’s going to be an interesting, heck of a fight. I don’t know if the UFC has ever had two guys that quick fighting each other before.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 59:47).