Jon Jones and Rashad Evans have been playing the blame game for months, but one thing is clear, there’s a little bit of “Sugar” in Jones’ style.
In a promo for the upcoming UFC light heavyweight title bout, Evans blamed Jones for mimicking some of his signature moves.
“He crawls like me. When he starts to fight, he crouches down like me. He got that from me,” said Evans.
It’s hard to disagree with the former UFC champion.
Evans has been crouching and crawling around the Octagon well before Jones came into existence.
With that said, Jones’ supposed “thievery” only pertains to pre-fight rituals. Outside of the crouching and crawling, Jones and Evans are completely different fighters.
Athletes borrow from one another all the time. Usually, it’s taken as a sign of respect.
NBA star Lebron James looked up to Michael Jordan his entire life. He mimicked his hero by wearing the same number and doing the ceremonial powder toss before games, but it all ends after that.
James isn’t Jordan on the court.
Perhaps, Jones looked up to Evans at one point in his career. With everything he’s accomplished, it’s easy to forget that Jones is only 24 years of age. He is still very impressionable in the sport.
As he matures as a fighter, it’s only natural he picks up on things he sees from other successful, experienced fighters.
If anything, Evans should take it as a compliment. It validates a lot of the things he’s said up to this point.
The winner of this fight won’t be decided by who crouches and crawls the best. It will be decided by who is the best fighter.
The world waits patiently for April 21 to find out whether that’s Jones or Evans.
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