There's no love lost between current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and number one contender Rashad Evans.
Last night (Sept. 26, 2011), Evans appeared on Pro MMA Radio with Larry Pepe. The two talked about Jones' recent victory over Quinton Jackson at UFC 135 on Sept. 24, in Denver, Colo., as well as the upcoming match (date yet to be scheduled) between "Bones" and "Suga."
Though not completely uncomplimentary of Jones in the interview, it was only a matter of time before Evans began to sling mud:
"Right now, this dude's on cloud nine. He thinks that he's God's gift to the fight game. I think he's gonna think that he can just walk right through me. Now that he's beat ‘Rampage,' he's gonna think that there's nothing I could do. He's seen my style and he's gonna think there's nothing I can do. He's gonna go out there and just try and embarrass me. He thinks it's gonna be an easy fight, but he's gonna find out different."
He was apparently just getting started.
During the interview, the gloves came off and no one was safe from Evans' sharp tongue. Apparently, he doesn't much care for Jones' manager, the often controversial Malki Kawa. Here's what he had to say about the Miami-based "super agent:"
"One thing about him (Kawa), I didn't like him, because ... he talks too fast. When people try to talk too fast, they're trying to hide something. He talks down on people, like he's better than them. I had to get away from that dude, or I probably woulda caught a case."
In addition to the spat between Evans and Jones, it's also no secret that top trainer Greg Jackson has been removed from Evans' Christmas card list.
Evans had a few interesting things to say about Jackson, even going so far as to infer that he (Jackson) possibly gets credit that he doesn't deserve:
"You know, if we're speaking honestly, Mike Winklejohn does about 85 percent of the coaching at Jackson's. That's just keepin' it real. Greg (Jackson) is always traveling. Winklejohn is the one who picks up most of the slack. I worked with Mike Winklejohn more than I worked with Greg Jackson, in my last four fights that I was there."
Evans said that he believes he would have left the Jackson camp, even if the rift between he and Jones had never occurred. People evolve and eventually move on. Nothing lasts forever.
He elaborates:
"I don't need Greg Jackson. I don't need him. He was great for me at the time, but I don't think there's anything I could have learned being at that camp. I've reached the top level that I could reach with that camp. I knew I had to leave a while ago. Things just kinda got stagnant. Jon (Jones) will feel the same way. He won't be there forever."
After Jones' UFC 135 successful title defense, he claimed that Evans had "ruined his special night." Evans weighed in on those comments, too:
"Think about how stupid that sounds. Like it's my idea to get in the cage. Like I'm jumping into the cage and security's after me and I'm going in there and challenging him. Don't say I ruined your night! Say the UFC and Dana White ruined your night! We're selling a fight...stupid! Just shut up!"
To cap off the interview, Evans closed things out by saying that he believes Jones faked an injury to get out of their last scheduled bout and that he believes he'll do it again:
"Do you think Jon pulled out of the first fight because he was confident? No! He was afraid! Watch him try to pull out of this fight too! Watch him be like, ‘Oh! My foot's hurt!' or something like that, so he can get out of this fight too. When it comes down to it, he doesn't really want it."
Interesting theory.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the recent news of Jones' six month medical suspension will affect the future match up of the two.
What do you Maniacs think? Will we ever finally see a Jones-Evans throwdown session? Who will have the advantage?
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