George Willis
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FIGHTIN' WORDS
At this point, it’s not clear whether Jon “Bones” Jones and Rashad “Suga” Evans, two upstate New Yorkers and former training partners, still are friends or sworn enemies. Certainly, they have exchanged plenty of venom in advance of their showdown at UFC 145 tonight in Atlanta. But there are times their mutual respect comes through.
“Jon has grown so much within the last year,” Evans said of the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion. “He absorbs things really fast. He’s like a sponge. We had a good time training together and I enjoyed our time training together.”
Jones also had words of admiration for Evans, a former light heavyweight champion.
“I’m here to fight the best fighters in the world and Rashad is unquestionably one of the best fighters in the world,” Jones said. “He has the gift of speed and the gift of grappling and I’m excited to see if I can conquer that.”
Yet, it’s the trash talk that has made this one of the most anticipated matchups in MMA. Jones and Evans once trained together at Greg Jackson’s MMA camp in Albuquerque, N.M. But last year Jones replaced an injured Evans in a title match against then champion Shogun Rua. After winning, Jones said he would consider a fight against Evans if UFC president Dana White insisted. Evans felt betrayed and formed his own training team in Florida.
At this point Evans is tired of rehashing the split.
“I’m sick of talking about Jon,” he said. “I’m sick of looking at him. I’m sick of everybody asking what happened. I’m sick of talking about it. I just want to get in there and fight.”
Jones (15-1) is a fast-rising superstar, who went from fringe contender to champion last year, using his size (6-foot-4), reach (84 inches) and athleticism to dominate his opponents. He has won his last six fights by either knockout or submission and his takedown defense is among the best in the MMA.
Evans (22-1-1), five inches shorter and eight years older than the 24-year-old Jones, is more of a grappler with knockout power. He briefly held the title in 2008, and has won his last four fights.
“I know Rashad and my coaches know Rashad,” a confident Jones said. “We know his guard passes, we know his setups. We know what we’re getting into. When you know yourself and you know your opponent there’s no need to fear the result.”
Evans is from Niagara Falls, and Jones is from Rochester. But they’re fighting in Atlanta because New York does not sanction MMA. That could change this year. A bill to have the sport regulated by the New York State Athletic Commission passed in the State Senate last week and now moves to the Assembly.
* Heavyweight boxers Tomasz Adamek and Eddie Chambers will meet at the Prudential Center in the June 16 edition of NBC’s “Fight Night.” Both are trying to re-establish themselves after losing title fights to the Klitschko brothers.
Adamek was beaten by Vitali Klitschko last year, and Chambers lost to Wladimir Klitschko in 2010. Tickets are on sale at the usual outlets. Meanwhile, the network announced it has added another date, Sept. 21, for the series.
“There was some apprehension to be brutally honest about getting back into the boxing business,” said Gary Quinn, NBC’s senior director for program planning. “But all those fears are gone and the wonderful thing is that we can build more and more continuity.”
* Additional tickets have been made available for next Saturday’s light heavyweight fight between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson in Atlantic City. ... Former Bantamweight champ Abner Mares (23-0-1, 13 KOs) of Mexico faces Eric Morel (46-2, 23 KOs) of Puerto Rico for the vacant WBC Super Bantamweight title as part of a boxing doubleheader on Showtime tonight from El Paso, Texas.
george.willis@nypost.com
Rashad “Suga” Evans, Jon “Bones” Jones, UFC, MMA, point Evans, Jones, light heavyweight, light heavyweight, Wladimir Klitschko, Evans, Vitali Klitschko
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