BEHIND THE SCENES MMA ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS
04/17/2012
Can Rashad Evans do the Impossible?
By Christopher “sLapDatSuCKa” Jester
Once teammates, now bitter rivals; Jon Jones and Rashad Evans finally look to settle the score inside the Octagon at UFC 145. They used to be proud stable mates of Jackson’s Submission Fighting, but now their enmity has reached epic proportions. From heated press conferences to trash-talking on Twitter, the two have made it quite clear that there is no love lost between each other.
Going into detail on how their relationship became so volatile is old news, and is frankly talked about too much. While the history is important to decipher how the two’s rivalry became so popular, it shouldn’t take away from the fact that Jon Jones and Rashad Evans are two of the best light-heavyweights in the UFC and in the world. They were bound to face each other at some point.
To most critics’ eyes, Jon Jones is undefeated in the UFC, 10-0, despite a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill because he used illegal 12-to-6 elbow strikes, Jon Jones has been on a tear unlike anyone has ever seen in the UFC and his official record is 9-1. Rashad Evans has gone 12-1-1, only losing to Lyoto Machida and drawing to Tito Ortiz, but is a former UFC Light-Heavyweight champion who has the skills to become champion again.
Each has fought three common opponents: Quinton Jackson, Stephan Bonnar, and Lyoto Machida. Jon Jones has defeated all three: Machida and Jackson by submission, and went to a decision with Stephan Bonnar. Evans went the distance with Bonnar and Jackson, but the former Light-Heavyweight champion lost his title to Lyoto Machida, who was Jon Jones’ last successful title defense.
To say these two men have something in common is a vast understatement. Despite both being New York natives and former teammates at Jackson’s, they both were collegiate wrestlers who have implemented their tremendous wrestling skills into their fighting pedigree, albeit in different ways such as Jon Jones using his background in wrestling to set up takedowns from the clinch in a Greco-Roman style, while Evans looks to use his boxing skills to set up his takedowns.
Going into this title fight against Jon Jones, many likely wonder, should Evans be nervous? Jon Jones has been on fire since his introduction to the UFC. Barely going the distance in any of his fights, Jon Jones has stacked up three TKO victories, four submission victories, and two decisions. His fights are not likely to have the judges render their scorecards. While Jones may lack a bit of power in his punches, he puts together his arsenal of attacks so well he may not need the power to finish his opponent, which was obvious in the Machida fight when he sunk in a standing guillotine choke to finish the fight.
Much of the same can be said about Rashad Evans, who despite becoming famous for his knockout power has gone to see the judges in three out of the four fights leading to his title shot. Evans started out his UFC career using his wrestling primarily to grind out decision victories. Fans did not start raising their brows at Evans until he knocked out Jason Lambert and Sean Salmon. But he did not become really known until he knocked out the famous Chuck Liddell at UFC 88.
Can lightning strike twice? Evans is in a similar situation now as he was back then. It was September 8, 2008 when Rashad Evans knocked out Chuck Liddell in devastating fashion in Atlanta, Georgia. Evans came into the fight as a massive underdog, and many could possibly say he is an underdog in this fight as well. Evans has shocked the world before, but can he repeat it against a man who has shown nearly no holes in his game?
Much like UFC 88, UFC 145 will be hosted in Atlanta, Georgia. Can Atlanta become Evans rallying point of shocking victories and unbridled upsets? He’ll have a tough fight ahead of him against the UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones who looks undefeatable at the moment. Can Evans stop the unmovable object that is Jon Jones, or will he fall victim to the man who wants to be the greatest of all time?
Follow Christopher “sLapDatSuCKa” Jester on Twitter @sLapDatSuCka
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