This Saturday, the latest in an ever-longer line of UFC superfeuds gets its chance to reach a conclusion.
By now, you’ve probably heard all there is to hear and read all there is to read when it comes to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones taking on former teammate and former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. My prediction for this fight is actually quite simple, and yet it honestly startled me the first time I saw it written on my screen: I know with as much certainty as is possible that Jon Jones will win, but nevertheless I hope Rashad Evans pulls off the upset.
Let’s start simple. A while ago I completely botched a prediction and said Vladimir Matyushenko would beat Jon Jones. Of course, what ended up happening was that Jones utterly destroyed “The Janitor” in what had to have been one of (if not the!) most humbling losses of Matyushenko’s professional career.
Immediately following that fight, I made a promise to never again bet against Jon Jones.
I admit that, in hindsight, maybe I jumped onto the bandwagon too early and too eagerly. Back when people thought Jones was a talented up-and-comer amongst a field of talented up-and-comers, I was already more or less calling him “The Chosen One” and predicting that he would break “the curse” of UFC light heavyweight champions losing their belts in their first few fights since winning the gold.
Nevertheless, I have kept that promise, and it has served me well.
Which brings us back to the first part of the equation. With as much certainty as possible, I know Jon Jones will win. He’s going to do what he does best—he’ll find a hole in your game, no matter how small you may think it is or how small it actually really is, and he’ll exploit it; and then he’ll exploit it so well that he ends up finishing you in highlight-reel fashion.
That’s what he does. That’s what he’ll continue to do.
That’s what’s going to happen to Rashad Evans.
And yet…I hope Evans wins. Thanks to all the pre-fight hype leading up to this fight (in too many articles and videos to list) I just can’t shake the fact that the talk of Jones being “fake” may be truer than I ever wanted to believe.
Rashad Evans may not be the nicest person. To be frankly honest, a lot of the time he can come off as a self-assured, cocky jerk, but at least that’s the real Evans we’re looking at and listening to.
When it comes to Evans’ beef with Jones, it’s realer than real. I’ve heard the conviction in Evans’ voice when he talks of how he helped build Greg Jackson’s camp and how he helped train Jones, only to end up betrayed by both. Maybe that’s not the whole story—I’m almost certain that it’s not—but Evans believes it with such ferocity and tenacity and speaks with such brutal honesty that you at least have to respect him for being completely open about how he feels about the situation.
However, Jon Jones just feels like an enigma to me right now. And I only like it when a fighter’s style is an enigma, not his/her personality. Maybe it’s my own sense of insecurity and even a bit of jealousy, but more and more now, every single time I hear Jon Jones talk I keep feeling like it’s not the “real” Jon Jones talking.
I’m not saying Jon Jones will swerve us all and go from Hulk Hogan to Hollywood Hogan overnight, but I think he’s either hiding something or not saying all that he really wants to say.
Am I living in a fantasy world here? Maybe. I’ll admit it. I don’t feel ashamed about that, either. I’ve been wrong before, I’ve even been wrong about Jon Jones in particular before.
Nevertheless, and this is a point I raised in my recent Mark Hunt article, the heart wants what it wants. And the reason I love this sport is because anything can happen.
So for one fight, I’m stepping outside of the bandwagon. However, I still believe Jones is a phenomenal fighter. I still consider him one of the best fighters in the UFC right now. I’ll even go one step further and say I think Jones will more than likely be the greatest MMA fighter of all time once all is said and done.
I say all that so I can leave you with this: Jon Jones will more than likely defeat Rashad Evans, but I love a good underdog story.
War Rashad.
All day every day.
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