Before UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former champion Rashad Evans face off inside the Octagon this weekend at UFC 145, the two former teammates face off in the second part of Counterpunch.
The long-awaited grudge match will give Evans a second chance at winning a title, something that he has been waiting more than two years for. When he defeated Quinton Jackson at UFC 114, the title shot was on the line, but he decided to sit out and wait for then-champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to heal from injuries.
When Evans and Rua were scheduled to face each other at UFC 128, Evans got injured and was replaced by Jones. Jones would dominate Rua to become the youngest champion in UFC history and set up the match between himself and Evans.
After Jones suffered an injury that delayed the bout, Evans decided to fight anyway while waiting for Jones to heal up.
Evans has fought twice since the Jackson fight, defeating both Phil Davis and Tito Ortiz. His latest bout in January saw him win a dominant five-round decision against Davis.
Jones sealed off one of the most impressive years for any fighter when he took out former champions Jackson and Lyoto Machida after defeating Rua and Ryan Bader. He finished every one of them.
The pay-per-view event will be broadcast live from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga.
Other bouts on the card include Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills, Brendan Schaub vs. Ben Rothwell, Michael McDonald vs. Miguel Torres, Mark Hominick vs. Eddie Yagin and Mark Bocek vs. John Alessio.
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