Rashad Evans was lucky to survive five rounds versus Jon Jones.
Or was he?
Jones went all out to defeat Evans—don’t get it twisted. But his post-match words revealed that a sliver of mercy allowed his former training partner to last the fight’s entirety.
Saturday night’s bout was hyped to the max as a grudge battle between two hated rivals. According to FoxSports’ Reid Forgrave, Evans went straight for the heart of his friend-turned-enemy and said leading up to the fight:
“He wears so many masks. You really never know which one you’re dealing with. You’re not going to get a consistent straight guy with him. He puts on a little bit—a little bit too much.”
Jones wasn’t backing down from a fight in the octagon or in front of a microphone, retaliating:
Rashad is the one who takes a lot of things, his own personal demons, and he tries to stick ‘em on me, almost like a nametag he’s peeling off his shirt and putting onto my shirt. Like ‘cocky.’ Before I came along, Rashad Evans was the king of cocky.
This wasn’t just a simple war of words—it was personal. But while Jones admitted that his triumph was his most satisfying victory, he silenced the hatred with his reaction to it.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Brian Armen Graham, Jones said of the feud after his latest W that he hopes the two can resume communication.
“I have a lot of thinking to do about this situation,” Jones said. “I hope to rekindle some communication with Rashad, and I hope we can do that in private. There is a lot of emotion between us that can lead to a friendship.”
Hold up—let’s stop and rewind.
After Evans attacked his character countless times and he returned the blows, Jones is contemplating friendship? Such a reaction is insanely rare in any form of rivalry. Gloating was expected, but an offer of compromise arose instead.
Following such a surprising lack of rubbing it in, one is forced to reevaluate Jones’ mindset going into the match. Not unwavering hate, but regretful bitterness seems to have fueled the pre-fight trash talking. Knowing that, mercy (if you can call it that) doesn’t seem out of the question.
Prior to Evans, Jones successfully completed a TKO or submission in his last seven fights. His domination was on full display yet again on Saturday, but his win came down to a decision—a method that hadn’t determined the outcome of a Jones match since January 2009.
Did the UFC light heavyweight champion show compassion for Evans to allow the possibility that their friendship be renewed? Jones’ refreshing response to a victory that reeked of sweet revenge answers that question.
David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.
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