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UFC 145: Would Another Dominating Win from Jon Jones Be Good for the UFC?

Jon Jones will finally face Rashad Evans at UFC 145, but if he wins, he may just give the UFC some headaches on what to do with him next.After Evans, what is there left for him at light heavyweight?Jones has already torn through most of the division an…

Jon Jones will finally face Rashad Evans at UFC 145, but if he wins, he may just give the UFC some headaches on what to do with him next.

After Evans, what is there left for him at light heavyweight?

Jones has already torn through most of the division and the fight with Evans seems like the ultimate matchup. It is the fight that most fans have invested time and energy into and are ready to see take place. Much like the fight between Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson, fans are ready to see the bad blood between these two fighters explode.

But if Jones does walk through Evans like he has his other opponents, what is the company going to do with him? He is still too young to move to heavyweight and hasn’t built the body mass he would need to survive.

At the same time, he doesn’t really have much in the way of challengers for his weight class. An argument could be made for Dan Henderson, but that is about it. Even then it would feel like a backward step, not because of the level of competition, but because there would b less of an emotional investment.

Dan Henderson is a great fighter, but he isn’t known for bringing drama outside the cage. In a sport like MMA that focuses so much on pay-per-view buys, both are important. It is a large part of why Henderson isn’t getting a title shot at light heavyweight or middleweight.

He may have had fight of the year in 2011, but he isn’t as interesting an opponent as Rashad Evans or Chael Sonnen—at least not from a media perspective.

So even if Jones wins against Evans, he is still faced with a problem because he has to face either taking opponents that casual fans won’t be as interested in watching or moving up in weight before he should.

Jones could wait until he gains a plethora of new challengers, though at this point in his career, that would possibly damage his growth and make him lose out on a large amount of revenue.

More importantly for the UFC, it would mean that they would lose a chance to make money off of one of their most profitable fighters. Jones has reached star status and there isn’t much more he can do to gain greater relevance in pop culture. He is a rare mixture of talent and charisma that comes around only once in a long while.

But the UFC won’t have any way to capitalize on his talents if he beats Evans—especially with such ease. He will evolve to a level, at least in most fans’ minds, where no one can challenge him.

Without a drastic change in weight or taking some time off, that notion won’t change.

People might stop buying pay-per-views because the money could go elsewhere and “Jones is just going to win anyway.” It might be a foolish line of thought, but one that plenty of folks have. Most hardcore fans know that no fighter is indestructible, but casual fans are impacted by marketing.

The same way that fans perceived Mike Tyson or view Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao today is the same way that Jones could be viewed shortly. Not as a fighter with flaws, but as a dominant force that can’t lose.

In an economy where money is tight, casual fans, the larger part of the UFC’s market share, might just spend their money elsewhere.

And that is the most important thing. Not the fights or the outcomes, but the bottom dollar. That is harsh, though reality is that unless the UFC turns a profit they have to shut their doors.

Even though the company isn’t in any trouble, that doesn’t mean that Jones doesn’t present a marketing problem if he is victorious.

The UFC may not have a favorite when it comes to two of their fighters squaring off, but it is in the company’s best interest to have Jones become human.

Otherwise, they will have a veritable Superman on their hands and a harder time convincing people that he is otherwise.

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UFC 145: Jon Jones May Be Overlooking Rashad Evans

Jon Jones’ rise to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings steadily continues with every challenger he emphatically beats.His next challenger is Rashad Evans, an opponent who seemingly knows the champion and shares a closer past with him than any other…

Jon Jones’ rise to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings steadily continues with every challenger he emphatically beats.

His next challenger is Rashad Evans, an opponent who seemingly knows the champion and shares a closer past with him than any other fighter in the light heavyweight division.

The war of words has gone on for several months, with Evans opening up about Jones in ways unimaginable, and criticizing his former training partner and camp. Jones has remained tight-lipped throughout the year, hoping to achieve redemption against the former UFC light heavyweight champion.

Although he has looked uncomfortable at times during interviews discussing his past experiences with Evans, there were glimpses where Jones showed over-confidence when comparing his skills to his opponent’s.

Evans has gone on record saying the 24-year-old is arrogant and cocky outside of the spotlight, and that seems more believable each time Jones opens his mouth.

Evans continues to discredit Jones’ hype and says he is capable of beating him due to his past experience with him, but Jones denies that he will lose on April 21.

This title bout is the most intriguing fight because of the two fighters’ history together.

Jones is already focused on his next challenger, as he is annoyed with Evans and hopes to beat him in devastating fashion as early and quickly as he can.

The problem is that Evans is one of the best wrestlers in mixed martial arts and is technically brilliant at mixing up his strikes with his takedowns.

Some may not want to believe it, but Jones is overlooking Evans’ skill-set, regardless of how much he has improved in the last year. And if there is one fighter who holds advantages over Jones, it’s Evans, and he intends on pulling off an upset at UFC 145.

So if Jones is as prepared as he claims he is, he better not overlook Evans.

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Jon Jones: Rashad Evans Doesn’t Have My Number

It was just over a year ago that Jon Jones became the youngest UFC champion when he stopped Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 to win the light heavyweight title, and reflecting on how much he has done since then is pretty amazing.The 24-year-old&nb…

The 24-year-old has gone on to defend the title twice against former champions Lyoto Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and was selected as 2011’s fighter of the year for his four wins that year, all of which came by knockout or submission.

His next fight at UFC 145 will come against a former training partner who also held the title—Rashad Evans. Had it not been for Evans’ injury that kept him from fighting Rua, Jones might not have won the title when he did.

Both know each other inside and outside the Octagon, but neither guy is the same since they last trained together at Greg Jackson’s gym in Albuquerque, NM, and Jones knows this.

Does Evans?

“My opponent believes he ‘has my number’ because of the time we spent training,” Jones wrote in his blog at FoxSports.com. “While he is obviously familiar with how I fight, I am familiar with him too, and we didn’t spend that much time training together. If you added up all the days we worked out together or sparred, we probably only trained together for a month. That’s a ton of time to observe someone, but it’s not like we spent years training with each other.

“And I’ve learned more in this past year after my opponent left the gym than in any other year in my career,” Jones continued. “To do all that, I had to grow so much as a fighter and my opponent isn’t thinking it through if he believes I am the same fighter I was even 12 months ago.”

Since losing the title to Lyoto Machida almost three years ago, Evans has defeated four opponents, including Rampage, Phil Davis and Tito Ortiz. His last fight saw him dominating an undefeated prospect in Davis at the UFC on Fox 2 show.

“You’ve seen it in other sports, when a young guy comes on the scene and does well, people get excited and start writing and saying ‘this guy can’t be beat,'” Jones said. “There’s a lot of hype about me right now; some media experts are saying I am unbeatable, but I know it’s not true. I wouldn’t bust my tail so hard in the gym if I was unbeatable.”

The entire blog entry is available at FoxSports.

UFC 145 will be available on pay-per-view on April 21 and will be broadcast live from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Other main-card bouts include Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills, Brendan Schaub vs. Ben Rothwell, Mark Hominick vs. Eddie Yagin and Mark Bocek vs. Matt Wiman.

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UFC 145 Preview: An Early Breakdown of Jon ‘Bones’ Jones vs. ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans

This is the hottest feud in the MMA world today.Current UFC light heavyweight champ Jon “Bones” Jones is coming off the most remarkable year in the history of the sport. In January 2011, Jones was viewed as an up-and-coming guy and a little more than a…

This is the hottest feud in the MMA world today.

Current UFC light heavyweight champ Jon “Bones” Jones is coming off the most remarkable year in the history of the sport. In January 2011, Jones was viewed as an up-and-coming guy and a little more than a year later, Jones is thought of by most as unbeatable.

A meteoric rise might be a bit overused at this point, but either way Jones has taken the UFC light heavyweight division and put it in his fireproof safe that he keeps in his office. Lyoto Machida is the only man in the UFC to win a round over Jones and he was then promptly Superman-punched in the face and choked into a deep slumber.

Jones has already said he wants to fight four times this year, as he did the previous one. If that is true, he plans on walking through Rashad Evans and at least two other top contenders inside of this calender year. Not much to say there but “wow!”

Rashad Evans is the former UFC light heavyweight champion. He won the title at UFC 92 in December 2008 by knocking out then-champion Forrest Griffin. He was knocked silly in a bout with Lyoto Machida, and in the ensuing three years he has fought only four times.

There are several factors that have led to Evans’ inactivity. Suga was forced to wait to fight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson when Jackson decided he would rather make a movie than fulfill his obligation to the UFC. Evans then chose to wait for a title shot as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua recovered from knee surgery following his UFC 113 title win over Machida. While waiting for Shogun to recover, he suffered his own knee injury and was forced to withdraw.

So, the story ends there, right? I mean, surely Evans’ 2011 would get easier. Nope. Evans was then passed up by former teammate Jones who destroyed Shogun and won the championship. And to round out 2011, Evans was forced to wait for his grudge match with Jones because of a strange situation with Jones’ hand.

After beating late-replacement Tito Ortiz last fall and Phil Davis this January, Evans now will finally get his second crack at the title and his first chance to back up all of the talking that he and Jones have been engaged in over the last year.

For those of you that have not, for whatever reason, heard about their feud, here is a very brief synopsis:

Jon Jones and Rashad Evans used to be training partners at Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in New Mexico. In an interview, Jones basically said that if he were asked by his bosses, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta, to fight Evans, he would do it keep his job. Evans got upset by this and kinda lost it. Jones stepped in for an injured Evans and won the title. Evans felt disrespected, left the New Mexico training center for greener pastures, and they have hated each other ever since.

After Jones pulled out of their proposed fight late last summer, Evans stepped up the trash-talk and with wins over Tito Ortiz and Phil Davis and he now gets his shot at Bones Jones.

In the upcoming slides I will break down the aspects of this fight that I see making the biggest difference.

Begin Slideshow

Jon Jones Looks to Prove Critics Wrong Against Rashad Evans

If Jon Jones hopes to solidify his reign as UFC light heavyweight champion, as well as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, his recent performances would suggest he is on the right path to doing so.After effortlessly dispatching three former ch…

After effortlessly dispatching three former champions, Jones is set to make his third title defense against another former champion in Rashad Evans, when the two contenders headline UFC 145 on April 21st.

Evans’ consistent trash-talk has aggravated Jones to the point to where Jones strives to beat him and prove he is a superior fighter.

“My opponent and I have a storied history that has been well-documented. He thinks he knows everything I bring to the table, but a lot has changed since he left the gym a year ago,” Jones told Fightline.com. “I’m a much different fighter than the one he trained with. I hope he is ready to see and feel that difference.”

Since capturing the UFC light heavyweight title last year against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128, critics and fans have searched long and hard for the fighter who possesses the certain skills to dethrone the 24-year-old champion.

But as talented and successful as his predecessors have been, no fighter at this point has even been able to put Jones in danger, let alone defeat him.

And while some fans are pointing to Evans’ past training experience as a possible advantage for “Suga,” Jones intends to silence his detractors once again.

“I have been able to prove many of my doubters wrong over the course of the last 12 months,” he said. “

“Some said I couldn’t submit a legend, and I did that. Some said I couldn’t take a punch, and I did that. Now some are saying that I will have trouble against someone who knows me so well. They are wrong. Wait until they see what I do on April 21.”

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Jon Jones on Rashad Evans: "I Just Can’t Wait to Put Him out of His Misery"

The anticipation couldn’t get any bigger for Jon Jones.The UFC light heavyweight champion is set to defend the title against Rashad Evans, a former longtime teammate and friend, at UFC 145 in April.Since Evans’ departure from Greg Jackson’s last year, …

The anticipation couldn’t get any bigger for Jon Jones.

The UFC light heavyweight champion is set to defend the title against Rashad Evans, a former longtime teammate and friend, at UFC 145 in April.

Since Evans’ departure from Greg Jackson’s last year, both fighters have endured separate paths to their title bout but have become better, well-rounded fighters. However it is Jones who believes that Evans’ trash-talk is fueled by jealously and a lack of confidence in himself.

“Jealousy fuels Rashad,” Jones said during a pre-fight interview on UFC.com. “I think it’s very weak emotionally on his part. That’s why I can’t wait for this fight to be over.”

It is evident that Jones has done his best to let his counter part do all the talking leading up to their bout in Atlanta. Evans has confronted the champion on several occasions and has even revealed incidents involving himself and the 24-year-old Jones where Evans would seemingly get the better of him in sparring sessions.

But despite Jones’ calm demeanor, he has now expressed his feelings towards Evans and is upset over the way he has been portrayed and mistreated by the former light heavyweight champion.

Jones said Evans’ antics have become tiresome and he intends on finishing his opponent and looking ahead to his next challenge.

“Rashad is the one who looks at this whole story like, you know, this guy’s went off and created his own team and he’s left the people who were there for him in the beginning. He’s the one who is going through this whirlwind in life right now,” Jones said. “And I just can’t wait to put him out of his misery and solidify me being the light heavyweight champion and telling him to go have a seat somewhere.”

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