It’s time for the UFC to stop delaying the inevitable and give the fans the light heavyweight title fight they want to see.
According to UFC president Dana White, Jon Jones is ready to step back into the Octagon in the near future, and with Rashad Evans currently booked to fight Phil Davis later this month for UFC on FOX 2, it looks like Dan Henderson may get the next crack at “Bones.”
This simply cannot happen.
Evans has been passed over for a title shot three times in the last year alone, and to do it for him again seems unjust.
Evans was first set to fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the title back at UFC 128, but an injury to “Sugar” ended up giving Jones the fight, and he dominated Rua to win the belt.
A few months later, Evans and Jones were rumored to fight at UFC 133, but a subsequent injury to the champion forced Evans to take a much less high-profiled fight with Tito Ortiz.
Once again, Evans and “Bones” were rumored to fight in December at UFC 140, but a lingering hand injury from the Ortiz fight left Evans unable to prepare in time, and his shot went to Lyoto Machida.
Obviously, all of this was out of the UFC’s hands, and it had no choice but to book fights that made sense for both fighters. With Jones ready to return to action in early 2012, the organization has a chance to finally give the fans the fight they want.
Jones and Evans have a legitimate dislike for each other that is sure to get fans interested. With the fight taking so long to come to fruition, it may get to the point where fans become disinterested in the bout.
With Evans set to fight Davis, the organization is jeopardizing one of the biggest possible fights it can make. This is MMA and anything can happen. If Davis upsets Evans, the entire year’s worth of build-up will have come for nothing.
As I see it, the UFC has two options.
The first is to hope for the best and pray that Evans is able to take out Davis, and then make the Jones-Evans fight in the spring. But that keeps Jones out of action for at least three to four months.
The second is to let Jones fight Henderson in March or April, and then set up the fight with Evans or Davis for Fourth of July weekend.
Honestly, neither option is very appealing. Yet waiting until after the Evans-Davis bout to make a decision is the right way to go. If Evans makes it through the fight without any major injuries, he can fight Jones for the title at UFC 145 in April. If he loses or gets hurt, the UFC can book the Henderson fight.
The UFC just needs to be patient enough to wait to pull the trigger, and it could make one of the biggest fights possible at a time when it severely needs star power.
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