Rashad on fighting Jones ‘I’m no punk so…’

Originally, when asked by ESPN if he would fight fellow Jackson’s MMA teammate Rashad Evans, Jon Jones was unequivocal:

“Absolutely not. If Rashad Evans won the belt, which I’m hoping he does, my only goal would be to be the toughest contender there is, and keep whipping butt without being champion … I couldn’t, he’s my mate … If Rashad held the title belt, then I’d wait forever.”

Rashad Evans expressed similar sentiments of solidarity:

“Me and Jon fight all of the time in the gym, it’s just no-one gets to see it! I don’t want to fight him. He’s young and he’s got a lot of time. When you train with someone you develop a bond – I can’t get good training if my training partners aren’t giving me their best, and to do that sometimes you have to expose your weaknesses. It’s a no-win situation. it splits up the camp as people have to take sides.”

Even when Evans was injured in preparation for a title fight against Shogun Rua and was replaced by Jones, Evans held firm in the belief that a fight was out of the question:

“I’m happy for Jones, I think it’s a great fight for him. I think Jones is going to smash Rua … He’s hungry, he wants it, so I’m glad if it’s going to be someone to step into my place, I’m glad it’s him … I’m still not going to fight Jon. I will always find something to challenge myself. I will go up to heavyweight or down to middleweight. But I will not fight Jon.”

Then Dana White for once stopped worrying about what others think, and spoke his mind:

“When (Rashad) said he was going to sit out and wait for Shogun; I said you’re insane. This guy is injured and has to sit out, has to overcome all these things, rust and you’re just going to sit out? … And now it’s in this situation where this guy is my friend and that guy is my friend. Dude you have way too many friends. You need to keep the friends thing down and stop training with people.”

Finally, Jon Jones moderated his position:

“I respect Dana White a lot and if that’s what he absolutely wanted to happen then, you know, I guess that’s what would have to happen. Me or Rashad would not want to get fired over the situation. It would just be majorly awkward for us. Rashad and I have a lot in common; we’re both young, African-American men with families, we both like to sing and have fun, we’re both elite MMA fighters, I mean we have a LOT in common. We really clicked really well and there is just so many other great fighters in the world that we could compete against. And we’re not animals, we’re friends and we’re people, we’re human beings. I just would hate to have to fight my own teammate. I would never want to.”

Following those comments, Rashad too appeared to accept that the fight can happen:

“I made my home at light heavyweight, and I think that I’d be playing myself if I went down to 185 or up to heavyweight. Those fights would be fun to do if there was a match worthy of doing it, but I think, for the most part, light heavyweight is my home … I don’t know what to expect from the UFC anymore, I’m not on Dana’s fab five so it can go either way. If it does happen and I get a title shot, then I have to think about whether I take it depending on who it is … Jones expressed last night in an interview that he would fight me for the title; I’m no punk, so…”