Evans Is The Real Deal | Jones Could Have Trouble At UFC 145!
By Chase Raymond:
It should be one of the most exciting fights of the year this weekend when Jon “Bones” Jones defends his light heavyweight championship against “Sugar” Rashad Evans this weekend at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
You might believe that Rashad Evans doesn’t stand a chance against the newest ruler of the UFC. Even Vegas isn’t giving “Sugar” Rashad such sweet chances with the odds set around 5 to 1 for Jon Jones.
Well, call me crazy if you want, but Rashad Evans is the real deal and has a legit shot at defeating “Bones” Jones.
First of all I can’t agree more with Jens Pulver and BJ Penn when discussing the fight on “Just Scrap” Radio on bjpenn.com. They both agreed the key to Rashad winning is to get the fight to the ground.
We all know Jones is great on his feet, great on the ground from the top, and great almost anywhere else. What we don’t know yet, is how Jon Jones will do off his back. If anyone will have a chance at letting us see that side of Jones game, it’s Rashad Evans.
Rashad has used his wrestling and speed ever since he won the “Ultimate Fighter 2” when he won as a heavy weight and currently holds the record for the most completed takedowns in the UFC’s 205 pound division. To date he has taken all his fights to the ground at least once.
We seem to forget when getting caught up in the Jon Jones hype that Rashad Evans is a true veteran of the UFC and holds a record of 17-1-1.
His only loss was to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98 in 2009. He since has won four straight against top tier light heavyweights.
We can all agree that Jon “Bones” Jones is great, but we should also be able to agree that Rashad Evans is the toughest fight of Jones’ career. Rashad is a former light heavyweight champion and has trained with Jones and his same coaches not long ago. There are so many reasons this will be exciting and I know Rashad Evans will be ready and willing to take what he feels is his; the light heavyweight championship.
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About the Author
The co-host of late night cageside on Monday 10pm est. Twittter - @chaseraymond and @ln_cageside
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**** rashad, hes all talk now, been boring every since he got knocked out by lyoto bows he just lays and prays
Dude, do you even study the sport? One of the best 205 performances was his dominance over Tito in their second fight. He’s winning this weekend and I’ll be there live to see it.
No respect….
your a dumbass poncho Evans will be champ.
Rashad is a true mma fighter in every sense of the word. This will be the fight that changes Jon Jones’ life. He is a good fighter but Rashad is on another level. Rashad is under estimated and Jones is over hyped. I think real mma fans and fighters alike would agree, That although jones is a good fighter. Rashad is an elite fighter with years of experience. Rashad is actually the better fighter. Mark my post. Rashad wins by stoppage in round 3.
when you’re using “Fedor’s” name? How many Fedors are there out there? Only know of one, and it’s not YOU.
Machida was supposed to be Jones’ “toughest fight.” And Machida almost died! People are jumping on the Rashad wagon not because he’s the better fighter. It’s because everyone hates Jones (for whatever reason, I haven’t the clue).
PLEASE, WHAT WILL THE EXCUSES BE ON SUNDAY WHEN RASHAD GETS HIS FACE POUNDED AND CUT UP AND LOSES BY TKO???? PLEASE, LIST THE EXCUSES NOW BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR THEM ON SUNDAY.
1- Staph infection
2- Jones is too big for 205
3- Cecil Peoples
4- Joe Rogan bias commentary
5- Curse of the Blackzillians
6- Jones is too big for 205
7- Steven Segal taught Jones secret karate magic moves
8- Cracked skull coming into fight
9- Team jackson fighters grease/juice
10-Jones is way to big to be fighting at 205
Good list except you forgot the UFC sponsored Jon so the fight must have been FIXED.
11- UFC sponsorship
12- Racism against Blackzillians (also responsible for Rumble missing weight and Ubereem failing his PED test)
13- Jetlag- since the fight is in florida and Jones trains in NM it will feel like it is 2 hours earlier to Jones and Rashad will be tired because the fight will take place after his bedtime
Karate Magic! Lol
your forgot bone is too big for 205
this list is 2 funny
14- Australian Athletics Commissioner is REALLY bad at math
All yall do is hate on Jones on this site lol dude is a champ for a reason..he has more weapons than Evans does..Evans does have better wrestling and a huge.right hand not to mention he transitions from striking to takedowns and he is very quick..but to say he is elite and Jones.isn’t.is crazy..Jones just.ran thru the lhw division and has beat everybody there is except for Evans and Hendo and both.of those names could be added to his resume shortly…then what will yall have to say about him?! Maybe then yall will finally admit he isn’t just hype
He aint hype, he’s amazing fighter. His range has kept even the best fighters out of the pocket. If rashad can get to him, and take him down, g£ and Ju I think it will be close, and rashad might still lose but i give him the upper hand there. If Jones takes him down, he’s ****ed. If he stands with jones he’s ****ed. Thats not a skill ting, its a range thing. Machida can cover huge distances and get bk out, but was still short of the mark 2 out of 3 times he went in on jones. Rashad has a window a very small window of opportunity, Jones has every window in the house. Machida i think could of beaten him if he was 2 inches taller, but he’s not.Plus he was actually choked out not knocked out, Jones wrestling is much better than machidas.
wow. ppl r riding the rashad train now? wtf? rashad sucks. “has won four straight against top tier light heavyweights.” he fought a tough, ugly, pitiful fight against phil davis. beat up on a 6 yrs past his prime tito. wrestle****ed thiago silva to death and still almost got finished. dry humped rampage thigh for about 13 mins. other 2 mins was rashads horrible footwork and almost getting finished. really who the **** has this guy ever beating in his career to even consider him good? and i mean actually “beat,” not dry hump and do everything he can to avoid and actual fight.
You sir are ignorant to the sport. The phil davis fight was ugly? I mean i admit it wasn’t pretty and rashad didn’t want it pretty. He purposely grinded out phil davis and burned all of phils stamina away over 5 rounds. That fight was extremely techinical but i’m sure you’ve never wrestled a day in your life so you wouldn’t know why the fight was extremely technical. Rashad’s footwork is great you baffoon. You know how i know its great. Because his footwork allows him to create angles and defend at any given time. He’s never at a point where he cannot defend himself by moving or strike. Thats what good footwork does. Good footwork allows you to use whatever attack you want at any given time which is also what allows him to mix punches with takedowns so well. Threw your bullshit argument out the window. And who cares if he wrestle ****ed thiago ask thiago how that shit felt when he was physically worn down in that fight and was having to deal with a guy on top of him punching him in the face. How do you think rampage felt when rashad rocked him in the beginning of the first round. or how he felt when he struggled to get up off of his back and completely exhausted his energy. Rashad is a fighter nobody wants to fight because he makes it painful and difficult for any fighter. I mean seriously man you’re just a hater to the definition. there is no reason for all the hate other then the fact that he beat you’re favorite fighters and now you’re afraid he’ll beat you hyped up jon jones too. Scared. Seriously man. People like you annoy me because you don’t think and you don’t actually know anything. You’re a spectator not an analyzer.
This has me confident Rashad will win.
That’s funny! The dude saying jones has ran through the LHW division! What a joke! He’s fought what 5 times, in a division of 40-50 LHW. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK! And get off the jones wagon, he’s not that good!
He beat everybody in the top 8 except for Evans and Hendo plz tell me who is left at 205 after that? Gustaffson isn’t ready yet he needs a fight with a wrestler to prove he can stay off his back other than him an the other 2 there is NOBODY left for him at 205..he has beat all the names at 205
ya forreal jones hasnt ran through everyone,evans knows how to beat him,he knows his weakness and evans is going to have his hand raised
So u couldn’t think of anybody either so u went with that?? Remember Jones knows just as much about Evans ppl lol I could careless who wins the fight as long as its a good one lol but I wanna see Hendo and Jones go at it that is the only reason I would say I’m choosing Jones
I’m sorry man but why in the hell do people wnat to see hendo vs jones… hendo…he’s okay but he’s not that good. He has no real technical skill outside of his wrestling and he’s extremely dependent on the “H-Bomb”. He gets taken down by BJJ guys yet he’s supposed to be a really good wrestler. He’s like 3 feet tall and bones is like 7 feet tall. He has no kicks and only punches but he has short arms… i’m sorry… bones is going to front kick him in the face repeatedly. Maybe if hendo was good at closing distance but he’s not. He’s an old style of fighter and he’s been getting away with it just because of his H-bomb.
I want to see it cuz Hendo will stay in Jones face and make it a fight it wouldn’t be a MMA match Hendo comes to fight and always leaves it all in the cage
Hendo would get destroyed and KO when Jon goes to the clinch. Knees to the face and body all day.
But on the other hand, I’m rooting for rashad just to keep the lHW division interesting. Don’t need another boring GSP division. Don’t get me wrong he’s a great athlete, but fighter? C’mon. Lol
War Rashad. Prediction : Jon Jones via TKO 2rd
Doubtful Hendo would get KO’ed. Jones hasn’t KO’ed anyone in his career. If Rashad has a glass chin like some believe he’d be the first. Hendo would most likely be submitted by Jones if he were to lose. HENDO HAS NEVER BEEN KO’ED IN HIS CAREER! How many fighters can say that?
He’s got what we call epic chin strength.
okay evans i may say evans 2.0 new and approved,guys if u watched the evans vs.davis fight,you would see,he beat the **** out of him the wwhole fight,a true ass woopin,and the tito fight,ass woopin,tiago fight?ass woopin,rampage fight?ass woopin,yes he has gave an ass woopin to everyone of them,is wrestling and speed is on another level,his head movement,his transitions,his takedowns,everything has improved so fast,tht lost to lyoto was the best thing tht has ever happened to him,is lost only made him stronger,evans knows how to beat jones,and jones thinks he knows what evans is going to do,guess what he just lost,just because he said tht,he has nooooo idea
I think Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg did a good job of selling Jon Jones. The UFC fed Jon Jones to the hype machine and let him build up. Look at the facts.
Jon Jones fought a sick or unhealthy Shogun. Then he fought a Rampage that was already pretty much done with fighting, mentally. Next he fought Lyoto Machida. A Lyoto Machida, that if you watch his last few fights is very different than when he won the title. In fact Lyoto had lost two of his last three fights when he faced Jon Jones. If you really think about it. The UFC fed Jon Jones guys that were not at the top of the division. Yes Rampage had won two of his last three outings. However Rampage beat Lyoto by decision. He beat Matt Hammil by decision. Not exactly top contender matches.
The reality is, that Jones should have fought Dan Henderson. If Jones was really going to fight a top contender it would have been Dan Henderson. Hendo was on a three fight win streak. Winning six fights out of his last seven. Granted the Lyoto vs Jones match was probably already set in place but the fact still remains that Hendo would have been a better choice at that time. That is if Jon Jones were to really face a top contender.
Rashad is on a four fight win streak. Rashad has won five of his last six fights. Rashad is the first actual top contender that Jon Jones will be facing. When you say that Rashad has not beaten any big names you obviously aren’t a fan of MMA or UFC for that matter. Rashad has beaten Rampage, Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddel, Tito Ortiz and Bisping.
Also they are ‘names’ that’s it. At the end of the day Rashad is a 22-1 fighter (not counting the draw). Jon Jones is a 15-1 fighter (yes 1 is a DQ). But the reality is that Jon Jones is now truly facing a top contender.
But what about Shogun you say. Well Shogun got a title shot after beating Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddel. Both of which were fighters on the bad end of their careers. So Shogun gets a title shot and goes the distance with Lyoto and loses by decision. Ok so he gets a rematch and wins. Yes he stopped Lyoto but that doesn’t make Shogun a top contender. It makes him a guy that got a rematch and found an opening. Shogun has lost two of his last three fights. Yes his fight with Hendo was nothing short of amazing but he still lost.
You can cheer for Jon Jones and use vulgar language to get route for your guy. But at the end of the day the real mma fans know what the sport is about.
i for the most part agree with you… but i cannot find in way in hell hendo can win the fight. And not for lack of trying man. I mean i’ve really thought about it but i just can’t think of a hendo friendly strategy. He’s slow… he has bad stamina. He needs to work on his takedown defense. he has no kicks. His punches are not very technical he just has one powerful right hand. But he can’t close distance very fast and his reach is extremely short for a light heavyweight. which i htink is a huge problem for him. Although he’s rashads height and has similar strengths (power right hand, inside fighting, wrestling) he has none of the strong defenses rashad has and he has no speed or footwork. I really don’t see how he has a chance in hell when jones arm is 14 inches longer then his and he has no speed.
Robert, Hendo has power in his left. He ko’d Wanderlei in pride with it. That was a big news when it happened
Shogun’s my ****ing hero, but yeah he doesnt look like top fighter in ufc. The rematch with machida is the only fight he’s been trim and looked like the shogun of old. He was deadly in pride. Wheres his roundhouse gone? who stole it? Way to much loading up power punches which dont land?? Hendo needs to fight the winner of Evans vs Jones ! I think he wants anderson silva though.
Sounds like you got an excuse for everyone Bones has ever demolished! Better start coming up with another lame ass excuse after he wrecks Rashad.
So Evans can think he knows what Jones is going to do but Jones can’t think he knows what Evans will do?? I agree Evans has looked way better since that loss an I been a fan of Evans since he did the ultimate fighter I love his cockiness its something every fighter should have nothing wrong with bein confident in your abilities and as a fighter it is a must have..I’m still waiting on yall to tell me who Jones has left IF he gets by Evans and Hendo
Shogun rematch. Shogun had RUST!
Jones didn’t beat hammil he lost by dq after mazzagati pulled him off hammil for 12-6 elbows but never gave a warning or anything..and u say those guys aren’t the top contenders just previous champs over the hill but if that’s the case who are the real contenders?? Evans and Hendo like I been sayin?? But after them then what?
Ps who is using vulgar language lol aren’t we all just having a good discussion on the 205 division???
Rashad is definitely underrated in this fight. Odds are determined partially by the majority opinion of the fans, and the majority of fans are only paying attention to Jones. That might prove to be an advantage for Rashad if Jones is underestimating him.
And even if Jones wins, I don’t think this will be as one-sided as some of his other bouts. Rashad will bring the fight to him, and Jones may not seem as invincible as before after this.
I agree with u Brent this will be the defining test for Jones but what if he does pass it with.flying colors?? It’s scary to think how good Jones could be and he is only 24.. most fighters don’t hit their prime until they are around 30
An actual loss for Jones could be the best thing to ever happen to him. Maybe he’ll train somewhere else. Look a Brian Stann, his striking has gone up 2 or 3 levels since his fight with Chael and in his last camp he trained outside Jackson/Winklejohn and looked like a beast.
Fedor, your MMA math is funny. It’s hilarious how you break down the wins of past champs, title contenders and legends I make your point and prove that Rashad is the first real title contender Jones is facing. bravo. It’s all just theory. I want Jones to lose cause I don’t care for him. I hope Rashad wins I like the dude. He still would have lots of trouble against Hendo, Shogun and get ko’d again my Machida.
call me bias because i love rashad and have followed him for years but this will be such a close fight and if rashad can ground whore him for 5 rounds or even if the whole fight goes to decision rashad will win. His cardio is far superior to Jones and if you can avoid the elbows and the stand up domination Jones will get tired and rashad will win
Jones could have trouble? Will have trouble.. It’s going to break junkie cold Lil grinch heart to send me more money when rashad wins! LOL
lol Where is that old softie the junk – meister anyways? lol I haven’t seen him out here in a bit. Did they kick him off the site for a while?
well, lets put it this way, if shard gets jones down, you’ll see x many rounds of lay n pray.
IF Bones gets it to the floor, expect a very very quick finish from Hellbows.
Thats your difference right there.
Its all about styles in this game Rashad brings a style that we haven’t yet seen Jones be tested by. Jones has fought wrestlers like Bader but you can’t compare Baders rasslin to Rashads, Evans is on a much higher level of MMA wrestling. As many of the other guys who have commented before have pointed out Evans credentials I say he poses the biggest threat to Jones’ stylistically. Jones is cleaning house in the Division Rua got destroyed, Rampage got finished, Lyoto got finished all primarily stand up fighters all top tier although Rua has a top level BJJ game I think we can all agree he favors the stand up. Now he’s going to fight a guy who’s bread and butter is the ground game so now we’re going to find out how well Jones does at keeping the fight were he wants it either on top on the ground or standing using his range. We’re going to find out how good his take down defense is against the best guy in the divisions with take downs, and how good he fights off his back since he hasn’t been taken down at all 100% on takedown defenses. Jones has said that he’s been training on being comfortable on his back so that means he’s accepting the fact that Rashad is going to put him on his back and do what he does keep the guy there and break them down. So the whole point of this is that Rashad has a better chance then anyone to beat Jones. I actually think Jones is gonna win but it’s hard to see either of these guys losing
Apparently people don’t realize that Jones is an excellent wrestler. If Rashad takes him down which we all know he will, you will all see that Jones is the real deal when he finishes him from his back with a triangle. I agree that this will be Jone’s toughest test to date but this dude is Anderson Silva like and will not be beat in the lhw division by any of the current UFC roster ( barring the ” lucky, I caught your ass” knockout).
Rashad is a talented fighter no doubt,but after this fight Sat night it will show every MMA fan out there how crazy good JBJ is,and Chartai you might as well throw that fifty in an envelope,and mail it off to Junkie,I just can’t see where Rashad wins this fight.
Are you kidding me? My entire bank account says Jones is gonna get the choice as to when he wants to end the fight.
Yah! Let’s shout about Hashad’s wrassling and forget Jones’. Machida, who has some of the best takedown d in the ufc. (I sort of remember Hashad trying for a TD. Not sure). Big TD from JBJ. More importantly, it was easy. Let’s see how good Rashad is off his back with JBJ raining down the Hellbows.
All I know is JONES is a safe fighter, when he got uncomfortable with Shogun, Machita he took it to the ground and ground and pound for a good sec until the fighter lost momentum and he would finish it right after, I know for a fact machita could have knocked him out if Jones wasn’t a bitch after those to punches and put him on the floor, lets see if he puts Rashad on his ass, IM ****N SURE JONES IS GONNA BE A BITCH AND GROUND AND POUND HIS ASS TO VICTORY…
Evans has the tools to beat Jones. Faster, better MMA wrestling IMO, may not be a better technical striker but has more power, great footwork, and more importantly knows Jones’ tendencies. I think Rashad will win and hope he does. If there’s one certainty about this fight, it’s that this will be Jones’ toughest test to date. And btw, whoever made the odds for this fight are a bunch of idiots. The hard-cores know it.
Ya bro fo sho, bones Jones might be in trouble on this one, great read and great points
I like Rashad. I’m a fan of him and have always thought he was a great fighter. I’ve always thought Jones stand up was sloppy and now he even says it. Just a headline on this site where Jones says his stand up is lanky or something like that. I’ve always thought this and never knew why Rogan hyped up his crawling style. When Rashad was the first one to do it against Rampage.
I think Jones is good but like I’ve always thought he is over hyped. I also appreciate the people on this site that get so passionate with their posts. Like no ones allowed to have a personal opinion. It’s pretty funny. I appreciate the real mma fans that follow up with good conversation though.