John Hackleman Knows Why People Don’t Love Jon Jones Like They Did Chuck Liddell

Not many are giving UFC light heavyweight title contender Glover Teixeira much of a chance when he faces dominant kingpin Jon Jones in the main event of April 26’s UFC 172 from Baltimore, Maryland.

That’s a strange prospect considering that Teixeira has won all five of his UFC fights and 20 in a row. Still, most are looking ahead to Jones’ next fight, a perceived blockbuster rematch with Alexander Gustafsson, who recently knocked out Jimi Manuwa at UFC Fight Night 37 after taking Jones to the limit at last September’s UFC 165.

But at least one man thinks that looking past Teixeira is a grave error, and that one man is Teixeira’s striking coach John Hackleman, who famously coached legendary UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell.

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Hackleman recently told Submission Radio that he doesn’t necessarily believe that Jones is look past Teixeira. If he is, however, Hackleman believes that may be a reason why Jones isn’t quite as popular as the fan-favorite “Iceman”:

“I don’t really pay attention to who’s overlooking who, but if he’s doing that, that’s kind of rude and kind of a slap in the face to Glover and it’s pretty disrespectful and if he is really doing that. If the fans are doing that then whatever, that’s fans, but if Jon Jones is really doing that which I don’t think he really is then to me that’s just disrespectful and rude and that’s maybe why, you know, people don’t love him like they did Chuck.” – via MMA.tv

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Hackleman may have a good point in stating that Teixeira shouldn’t be looked past, because he definitely should not. The Brazilian slugger has failed to face any true top-level opposition during his UFC tenure, though, so it may be slightly understandable why he isn’t given the same amount of hype as Gustafsson or even Daniel Cormier.

Regardless, Hackleman believes that Teixeira undoubtedly has the power to shock the world by ending Jones’ run at UFC 172 with one punch:

“I think his ace in the hole is his unbelievable one punch knockout power.”

Indeed Teixeira can change the course of any fight with one punch. Like Liddell, he may not be the most technical of light heavyweights, but his power simply cannot be denied or ignored.

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Yet Jones has finished off noted knockout strikers in “Shogun” Rua, “Rampage” Jackson, Vitor Belfort, and Lyoto Machida. Will Teixeira’s power make the difference when his chance to dethrone “Bones” rolls around next month?