Rashad Evans should be used to playing the waiting game by now.
A thumb injury forced the former UFC light heavyweight champion to miss out on another opportunity to reclaim the world title.
At UFC 140, he’ll be sitting on the sidelines as his arch nemesis and former teammate Jon Jones prepares to put forth his second title defense against Lyoto Machida.
Who does Evans hope to face next? Well, his answer shouldn’t surprise anyone.
“Jon Jones,” Evans responded in an interview with GnP-TV. “I don’t like Jon Jones. I can respect Machida. He beat me fair and square, but I don’t like Jon Jones.”
The falling out between Evans and Jones can be traced all the way back to March 2011, when Jones defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the UFC light heavyweight title.
After the fight, a bout was proposed pitting the teammates against one another. While Jones had no qualms about facing his training partner, Evans found it suspicious that the 24-year-old champion would be so quick to face him, especially after they agreed to never fight one another.
With the Jones situation unfolding and a supposed lack of moral support at Jackson’s MMA, Evans chose to leave the gym and longtime mentor Greg Jackson.
Along with former members of American Top Team, Evans now trains in Boca Raton, Florida with a new team known as the “Blackzilians.”
With his new camp behind him at UFC 133, Evans returned after more than a year hiatus and dominated a surging MMA legend in Tito Ortiz.
“First of all, I’ve got to stop worrying about a title shot. Second of all, I’ve got to keep on winning, and as long as I keep doing those two things, I’m sure [a title shot] will come.”
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com