The UFC light heavyweight title fight between defending champion Jon Jones and Rashad Evans is the most anticipated fight of the spring season. The former friends and training partners will finally meet in the main event of UFC 145 in April.
It’s not just the fans who are interested in the fight, either. The history and bad blood between Jones and Evans has caused professional fighters to stand up and take notice of the bout and they’re starting to weigh in with their thoughts on the outcome.
In the above video from MMA30, you’ll hear from Forrest Griffin, Urijah Faber, Dominick Cruz, Kyle Kingsbury, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “King” Mo Lawal, as well as journalists John Morgan and Brett Okamoto. Each individual shares their thoughts on Jones opening up as a six-to-one favorite over Evans before analyzing how Evans might overcome the odds and beat Jones.
It’s interesting watch. Do I believe Rashad Evans is going to beat Jon Jones? No, I don’t. After what we’ve seen Jones do to Shogun Rua, Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson, I’m not sure Evans has what it takes to really pull off the upset.
But I’ll also point out that Evans does have the best chance of anyone else in the light heavyweight division to dethrone the current champion. As Cruz points out in the video, Evans needs to stay in close quarters, right there in the pocket where Jones cannot effectively use his gigantic reach advantage.
If Evans is able to keep the striking battle close and mix in his wrestling to put Jones on his back, we might see an upset in Atlanta.
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