Rashad Evans has only lost one match in his MMA career, but oddsmakers strongly believe that when he and Jon Jones face off in Atlanta on April 21, Jones will hand him his second defeat.
According to the earliest line released on the fight, Jones (15-1) is a massive 6-to-1 favorite to successfully defend his belt for the third straight time.
Evans will only have 12 weeks to recover and prepare following his five-round unanimous decision win over Phil Davis at last Saturday’s UFC on FOX 2 event.
Evans (17-1-1) has been the No. 1 contender in waiting since beating Quinton Jackson back in May 2010, but a series of circumstances including injuries and timing have left him unable to cash that chip in until now.
The two were quite infamously training partners at Team Greg Jackson in New Mexico before a Jones interview in which he said he would fight Evans if ordered to by UFC president Dana White fractured the pairing.
Jones captured the belt last March with a TKO destruction of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and subsequently defended it with wins over Jackson and Lyoto Machida.
Evans admitted it was difficult to prepare for the Davis match with the title bout possibility hanging in the background. Now he finally gets it, but if odds are to be believed, he also faces a major uphill battle.
The fight takes place as the main event of UFC 145 at Philips Arena in Atlanta.