UFC
Rashad Evans ready to teach "cocky" UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Jon Jones a lesson
Aug 8, 2011 - 9:15:54 AM Rashad Evans ready to teach "cocky" UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Jon Jones a lesson

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

By taking a fight at UFC 133, Rashad Evans took the risk of losing his spot as the number one contender in the UFC's light heavyweight division. Taking out Tito Ortiz in a superb performance on Saturday night in Philadelphia, however, has him more than ready for a chance at regaining his belt.

Evans just has to wait until the end of September to find out who he'll face, as Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will take on Jon Jones for the belt at UFC 135. For Evans, while he'd be fine facing Rampage a second time, he's hoping for Jones to pull off the victory so he can get his hands on his "cocky" ex-teammate.

"I would prefer to get it from Jones because I would love to be the first one to beat him," Evans said at the UFC 133 post fight press conference (transcribed by MMAWeekly.com). "And he's so cocky. He's so cocky. You think I'm cocky. He's real cocky. He's for real cocky. Like, I'm on camera, joking around cocky. He's like, goes to sleep, praising himself cocky. That's how cocky he is."

"I would love to teach him a lesson. If he makes it past Rampage then I get a chance to do that, but like I said, he has a tough fight ahead of him. If Rampage does his work, then he could actually do something. I think Rampage should come and train at my camp for this fight."

The falling out between the two fighters has been well-publicized, and the bad blood has only gotten worse in the months since they were initially slated to face each other. Still, Evans believes Jones is an elite fighter, but he still sees a tough fight for him in Rampage on September 24.

"Jon's a tough guy. Jon's the Champion, but I know what Jon's weak at," Evans said. "He knows where I'm weak at, but we'll see who covers those weak areas up first. He has a tough fight with Rampage. Rampage does move like Frankenstein. He's not what he used to be in some areas, but I think if [Rampage] does catch him he could put him to sleep."

For his part, Jones sent out a shot on Saturday when he tweeted after Evans' victory over Ortiz that it was the "same old stuff" from Rashad in the fight. The comment drew fire from Evans and brought disagreement and criticism from UFC President Dana White.

"That's fine," Evans said in response to Jones' comment. "If it's the same old stuff, that's probably exactly why he didn't want to fight me the first time. Jon knows how it went when we trained and he knows if I'm focused and I'm strong and I'm healthy then he knows he has a fight on his hands."

"I don't know what he was seeing," White said of Jones' tweet in an interview with Karyn Bryant of MMAHeat.com. "Same old, same old would be if Rashad came in, [got a] double leg, [laid] on the guy for three rounds, and won a decision. That was far from the 'same old, same old.' I'm a huge believer of ring-rust, but that might have [blown] my whole theory on ring-rust."

Should Jones get past Jackson in Denver at UFC 135, these two will finally get to square off, but it's clear there will be no love lost between them, and no reconciliation until they finally get their hands on one another.

Penick's Analysis: Even though Evans has had more impressive stoppages in fights against Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, I don't know that he's ever looked as good all around in a fight as he did against Ortiz on Saturday. The 14-month layoff saw him suffering no ill effects from ring rust, at least no effects that were noticeable in the fight, and he fought an extremely intelligent and convincing fight to keep himself in line for a shot. Jones has been running through his competition in increasingly impressive fashion, and it's hard to see how any fighter is going to dethrone him right now, but if there's anyone with a real chance it's Evans. Rashad solidified his status as an elite light heavyweight on Saturday night, and he's one of the most successful fighters ever in the UFC. He may still not have the backing of the MMA fan base just yet, but it should at least be understood that he's as good a fighter as any we've seen in the division for the last several years, and better than most, and he's ready to stick around for a long time.