This weekend is UFC 145. The main event pits UFC light heavyweight champion against former-teammate Rashad Evans. It’s a fight that has been slowly building for over a year and one that will decide who is the best fighter in the division.
Rashad Evans presents some interesting stylistic matchups that Jon Jones hasn’t seen before in his UFC career. Those, added to the fact that they were former training partners, makes this the most intriguing light heavyweight fight of all time.
Because of these factors, I have several questions.
Can Jon Jones handle adversity?
This tends to be a question every time that Jon Jones fights a veteran. It was one that was asked when he fought Shogun and it was asked again for the Machida fight. It’s a valid question though. For all of his talents, Jon Jones is still extremely young and doesn’t have the experience to draw upon should he be put in a bad situation.
It’s easy to overlook because of how physically dominant Jones actually is, but Rashad Evans’ experience and fight IQ may be a difference maker in this fight.
Will his chin hold up?
Again, this is asked whenever Jon Jones has a fight. It’s why the fight with Rampage was interesting on paper. As limited as Rampage Jackson is at this point is his career, he still has the punching power to put someone to sleep.
The same can happen with Rashad Evans. Evans has the same power as Jackson but isn’t as limited in his striking abilities. He’s also made massive adjustments in his technique and arguably has the best footwork and head movement in the light heavyweight division. All of these factors make the fight with Jones an interesting one.
How will Jon Jones do off his back?
In his entire UFC career, Jon Jones has only faced wrestlers in three of his fights. His opponents? Matt Hamill, Jake O’Brien, and Ryan Bader. As good as they are at wrestling in MMA, they aren’t in the same league as Rashad Evans. Evans has firmly established himself as the top wrestler at light heavyweight and has a brutal top game.
It’s easy to overlook this fact as Jones has never had to fight off of his back. But as Mike Tyson once said, “everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Has the trash talk gotten into his head?
Jon Jones can say that he doesn’t care about what Rashad Evans has said in the media but it’s hard to not let those words get to him. Evans has been incredibly open about Jones and former trainer Greg Jackson. On some level that has to be getting to Jones, who has been very defensive of his trainer. Evans is the first fighter that Jones has faced who has trained with the Jackson camp. It’s very possible that Jones may lose focus because of what Evans has said about him and his coach.
Did the long build burn him out mentally?
Let’s be honest, the press conference was kind of a dud. But that should have been expected. The fight has been built up for over a year and at some point both Jones and Evans had to have burnt out talking about each other. It doesn’t feel like there is any animosity anymore because of how much these two have spoken on record about each other. Media obligations can take focus away from what is important and that may be the biggest issue that Jones has heading into the fight with Evans.
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