The war of words between former training partners, Rashad Evans and Jon Jones, continues to intensify.
With recent reports of Jones opting out of surgery to fix a torn ligament in his right hand, the former UFC light heavyweight champion seems quite confused regarding the 23-year-old’s actions.
In fact, Evans believes that Jones is faking his injury in order to avoid fighting him.
“It’s obvious he doesn’t want to fight,” Evans told MMAJunkie.com.
“Because if you don’t need surgery and you’re not going to have it, then why tell the UFC that you’re going to have surgery and not have it?”
Both competitors were scheduled to meet at UFC 133, but Jones sustained an injury and was forced to withdraw. Jones was scheduled for surgery, but after being evaluated by a specialist, it was declared that the surgery was not necessary. As a result, Jones plans to make a return to the Octagon by late summer or early fall.
The situation has irritated Evans so much, that the two former friends nearly came to blows after Evans confronted Jones at a nightclub last week in Las Vegas. According to Evans, nothing escalated but they did share a private conversation afterwards.
“He pulled me over, and he’s like, ‘I just want to tell you right now—I’m going to destroy you,'” Evans said. “‘You’re going to be my first knockout highlight.’
“I’m looking at him in disbelief like, is this dude serious?,” he continued. “So I was like, ‘Okay, you are. Then why didn’t you take the fight?'”
Nevertheless, Evans will now have to turn his attention on Jones’ replacement, Phil Davis. Evans said he has already begun preparations for Davis, for a chance to earn a shot at Jones.
Evans looks at his rivalry with Jones as nothing more than a distraction.
“I even hate the fact that I’ve got to talk about Jon Jones because I’ve got a great fighter in front of me,” he said.
“I’m coming back from injury and I need to go out there and have a good fight. So that’s my main focus.”
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