The ever-growing heat between former teammates Jon Jones and Rashad Evans has fans gearing up for the most anticipated grudge match in recent memory.
After securing his first ever UFC title defense against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135, Jones now turns his attention towards Evans, a bitter rival that feels like he was betrayed and thrown under the bus by former coaches and teammates.
Jackson’s MMA, headed by world-renowned coach Greg Jackson, has quickly grown into the official breeding ground for world champions.
Evans has trained under Jackson for years, and it came as a shock to the former light heavyweight champ when Jones was brought aboard. If you already have a potential 205-pound champion in your camp, why bring in another?
“It’s beyond a blame,” said Evans in an interview with MMAWeekly. “Greg knew what he was doing, what was up with it when he brought him into camp, and that’s why I don’t have too much to say to Greg anymore.”
“Because it’s like you knew. I told you about this before it happened, and you sat up there and said ‘if you can’t trust your friends, who can you trust,’ but then when it goes down, you want to wash your hands and walk away and say ‘oh, I had nothing to do with this,’ but you brought it to make it happen. So I don’t like that, and I don’t respect that.”
Along with fighting, Evans may want to consider a career as a psychic for his Nostradamus-like prediction.
Jones steamrolled the light heavyweight competition and earned a shot at the UFC title, replacing an injured Evans at UFC 128. The future became the present as Jones decimated MMA legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to become the youngest UFC champion ever.
After Jones became champion, the relationship between Evans and Jackson’s MMA nosedived. It became apparent that Evans would have to face Jones to win back his UFC title.
Evans has reasoned in the past that he wasn’t upset at the idea of fighting Jones, but he was surprised by how quickly Jones jumped at the opportunity to face him. According to Evans, the two agreed in the past that they would never face one another.
While Jones is one reason, Evans decided to part ways with his old gym, there are a plethora of others, including the “commercial-like” atmosphere of the once tight-knit camp.
“Back in the day, it was like we were all family. We were really tight with each other, but now, it’s gotten so commercial. Greg is always gone all over the place, and it’s just not a family no more. It’s too transient. You can pay a certain amount of money, and you can come and live at the Jackson camp, and it just got so transient, you’d see so many different faces come and go. It’s just not the same place as before,” Evans said.
With everything that’s happened, Evans is ready to move on and leave Jackson’s MMA in the past. He now trains at Imperial Athletics with former fighters from American Top Team.
Coming out of a new camp, Evans looked to be in top form in his victory over Tito Ortiz at UFC 133.
The upcoming championship bout between Jones and Evans has yet to receive an official date, but regardless of the outcome, Evans vows it won’t change his stance with Jackson’s MMA.
“No, I don’t think I’m ever going to train back at Jackson’s camp,” Evans said. “I will go back to Albuquerque, New Mexico at Mean 1, Keith (Jardine’s) gym, but the things at Jackson’s camp, they’re just different now. It’s not the same no more.”
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