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Jon Jones Vs Rashad Evans: THE THREAT IS REAL – UFC NEWS

By Antwyn Jackson

(Managing Editor’s Note: Antwyn Jackson is our newest Feature Writer here at RSR. I, along with the rest of the crew welcome him aboard!)

At UFC on FOX 2, Rashad Evans finally stamped his ticket to fight Jon Jones at UFC 145 this coming April. The long awaited and long talked about rivalry comes to a head for the UFC Light Heavyweight championship belt, but is it really a contest?

Judging by the way the fight between Phil Davis and Rashad Evans went, it’s hard to fathom that Evans giving much of a challenge to the incumbent, Jones. A lot of fans don’t give Evans even a puncher’s chance against the phenom, but I think we should re-direct that train of thought.

Rashad Evans is a very quick, well-rounded, and most of all, experienced fighter. Evans trained with Jon Jones, as most know, and also knows the ins and outs of his game. With this skill set and prior knowledge, Evans poses the greatest threat to the champion within the entire division. He has the ability to wrestle with Jon and can also find his way back up if taken down. Evans knows how to use angles to strike against a fighter with a longer reach. He also knows how to get inside the reach and do damage. Evans sticks to a game-plan and knows how to grind out victories. To top it all off, Evans has knockout power in his hands and in his feet. If you add all of this together and multiply it by the amount of emotion he has invested in this fight, you begin to understand why Rashad is not only a threat to Jon Jones’ title, but he is the most dangerous threat in the UFC.

I’m not saying that I think that Evans will beat Jones, but what I’m saying is Evans CAN beat Jones if he fights the perfect fight and Jones slips up. Keep in mind that Jon Jones has only been fighting professionally for a little under four years, so there are situations that he hasn’t been in yet. If Evans can take him in deep water for the first time, maybe the world will see what Jon Jones is really made of. But, then again, who really expects that to happen?

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