After destroying Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, Jon Jones stood in the octagon with his next opponent, Rashad Evans, and said that he was upset his former training partner was ruining another big day for him. But the light heavyweight champion won’t have to worry about Evans for at least six months.
According to a report on MMAJunkie.com, Jones received a six-month medical suspension. Details of the suspension were not made public, but Jackson, who was beaten around the octagon for four rounds before getting choked out, was only given a two-month suspension.
This is yet another convenient excuse that Jones has to use to avoid his long-awaited, much-anticipated fight with Evans.
Earlier this year, after Jones won the light heavyweight championship, he was supposed to defend the title against Evans, but a mysterious hand injury forced him to withdraw from the fight. It was believed that the injury would require surgery, but Jones was advised not to have the surgery.
So Evans, who had been on the shelf for over a year waiting for then-champion Mauricio Rua to recover from injuries, decided that he had to get back in the octagon, and took a fight with Phil Davis.
Then, as soon as Evans took another fight, Jones decides that his hand is in good enough shape to fight again.
It was sketchy at the time, and this latest mystery makes things look even more convenient for Jones.
Now, to be fair to the situation, we don’t know what is wrong with Jones. He might have done something to himself in the fight with Jackson, though he seemed to be in perfect condition in the post-event press conference.
But this whole thing just doesn’t feel right. It is obvious that something is going on in Jones’ mind that will not allow him to fight Evans. I don’t know if it is just the fact that they were so close before, and Jones wants to recapture that bond, or if Evans knows something about Jones that he can exploit in a fight.
Until the mystery of Jones’ medical suspension is revealed—if it ever is—all we have are a series of questions that don’t have answers.
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