Evans: The saddest thing in life is blindness to your own mistakes

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Rashad Evans were friends once, but have been rivals since 2011, when an Evans’ injury set in motion a title run by Jones. However, in an appearance on UFC Tonight, Kenny Florian called for Jones’s title to be stripped if he is guilty, while Evans took a more nuanced position.

“There’s definitely something wrong going on her,” said Evans. “Something’s going on in his mind. You’re four weeks out from the fight. The only thing that you should be worried about is training and getting ready for this fight. When you’re going out trying to have a little party, or whatever the case may be, it’s not good. It’s saying that something else is going on. Something is wrong.”

“He does need to take some time away from the sport. Because fighting is a privilege. Being able to do what we do is a privilege. It’s not a right. When you start to forget that you’re privileged by being able to compete, that’s when you need to have a sitdown, that’s when you take a break, that’s when you need to have consequences that equal more than a slap on the wrist.”

“One thing about Jones, he does have a strong family base. His mother and father are very strong with keeping their kids in line. And he has some great brothers that play professional football. They just really need to sit down and say ‘Jon, listen, we love you. We don’t know what you’re going through, we don’t know the pressure you’re going through, but listen – this is not the way to do it. Because this right here will end your career faster than you think.’

“Jon has been a legend in this sport. He can go down as one of the greatest guys, or he can be one of those guys where you say ‘Man, he had it all, but just didn’t see it. And that’s the saddest thing in life – when you make a mistake, and cannot see your own mistake in time enough to prevent it.”