Jon Jones and Rashad Evans have been stuck on a collision course for months now, one that even a big name like Quinton Jackson was helpless to derail at UFC 135. And one that Evans will be powerless to steer away from disaster when he finally has his s…
Jon Jones and Rashad Evans have been stuck on a collision course for months now, one that even a big name like Quinton Jackson was helpless to derail at UFC 135.
And one that Evans will be powerless to steer away from disaster when he finally has his shot at Jones.
These two, once close friends and training partners, have been sworn enemies since February, when Bones accepted an offer to replace an injured Sugar Rashad in a fight for the Light Heavyweight Championship against Mauricio Rua at UFC 128. Jones promptly took the title from Shogun by TKO, with Evans jealously claiming that his friend had stabbed him in the back by cutting in on what was supposed to be his shot at glory.
The two were originally supposed to square off at UFC 133, but Jones was forced out with a hand injury of his own. Instead, Evans brought a swift end to Tito Ortiz’s comeback with a second-round TKO to set himself up for a shot at his arch nemesis.
Jones was more than happy to oblige by holding up his end of the bargain, forcing Rampage into the first tapout of his career by way of a rear naked choke in the fourth round.
What happens next, aside from just one of the most hotly-anticipated title fights in recent memory, is a one-sided beatdown by Jones to further assert himself as the most stable and dominant Light Heavyweight Champion since Chuck Lidell.
As far as fighters are concerned, Jones is indeed The Ultimate, a veritable cyborg from the future who seemingly has no holes in his repertoire and incredible physical gifts to boot. Jones is long, strong and skilled almost beyond compare.
I say “almost” because Anderson Silva is still the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, though Jones is giving him a run for his money.
The only criticism anyone’s been able to muster about Jones thus far is that no one knows how he’d hold up under fire, how he’d be able to withstand big blows from a worthy competitor.
However, after Saturday’s shellacking of Jackson, who’s no slouch himself, it’s clear that Jones’ problem isn’t that he hasn’t been tested by quality problem.
It’s that he really is that much better than his competition, so much better that even championship-caliber fighters can barely put a lick on him.
To be sure, Evans is no pushover, either, but he’s looking more and more like Jackson with each passing day.
And by Jackson, I mean, of course, a mismatch against Jones in the Octagon. Evans was at the Pepsi Center in Denver to see Jones defeat the 33-year-old Rampage, on the eve of his own 32nd birthday. Jones, on the other hand, is just two months removed from his 24th birthday, giving him an advantage in youth and athleticism on top of his growing edge in skill and technique.
That won’t keep Evans from making a good fight out of it, or at least attempting to. In the end, though, Evans will be flattened into yet another stepping stone on Jones’ path to glory, just like Rampage, Shogun and Ryan Bader before him.
Make sure to check into Bleacher Report for all things UFC 135. B/R is your home for MMA, from pre-fight predictions, round-by-round recaps and post-fight analysis which you can check out at our event hub.
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