Quinton Jackson recently shared how he cleverly exposed a spy allegedly sent by Jon Jones to his fight camp by faking an injury to flush them out.
Jackson took on Jones for the light heavyweight title at UFC 135 in September 2011, but his efforts fell short as he was submitted in the fourth round. Despite being thoroughly outmatched in the bout, "Rampage" later criticized Jones for his fighting style and his tendency to extend his fingers during exchanges, a habit that has unintentionally resulted in eye pokes for several of his opponents.
However, in the lead-up to their fight, Jackson stirred the MMA world by claiming that "Bones" had planted a spy in his camp to gather intel on him. To test his suspicions, Jackson fabricated a story and let the word out that he had a hand injury...
Jackson on Jones Reportedly Planting A Spy: 'It was Somebody That Worked For MusclePharm'
During a recent episode of his JAXXON Podcast, "Rampage" revealed that Jones was allegedly in contact with someone from his supplement sponsor, MusclePharm, to spy on his fight camp. The former UFC light heavyweight champion recounted how he began to suspect that his every move was being monitored, so he devised a plan.
He faked an injury and shared the news only with his Team Wolfslair, yet somehow, the information still leaked to the public.
He had a spy in my camp; it was somebody that worked for MusclePharm that was cool with him," Jackson said. "He would come there and watch me train and stuff, and I don't know—I can't remember how I found out that somebody was watching me. Maybe some sh*t he was saying online, so I faked the injury, and I didn't tell anybody. I told my tight team, 'I think Jon Jones has a spy in my camp,' so I faked the injury and didn't say anything, and then it got out in the press.
In an interview with Yahoo! Sports in August 2011, Jackson revealed that just hours after planting the fake news, his manager received a call from then-UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, who was eager to find out what had happened.
As Jackson anticipated, the response was swift and telling: Silva mentioned that Jones' manager, Malki Kawa, had reached out. Although Jackson has never produced any concrete evidence to support his claims, "Bones" once playfully admitted to planting a spy in his opponent's camp.