After Jon Jones bludgeoned Mauricio Rua at UFC 128, I heard stories of Jones having trouble with former training partner and upcoming opponent Rashad Evans in training. Through a series of mysterious informants, I received word that Evans speed created problems for Jones, and, more specifically, that Jones’ abilities off his back were nowhere near his abilities in other areas.
The accuracy of said stories are always up for debate.
In fact, Jones himself has a wildly different version. Josh Gross reports:
“We fought each other in practice,” said Jones, who pushed his record to 13-1 with last month’s triumph. “A finish has been possible several times and it has always been me finishing him. I never did it out of respect that he was the elder of the school. It’s against protocol in a way. Some people would do it but I believe in tradition.”
And if Jones did have any problems with Evans in camp, it’s news to offshore bookmakers, who opened Jones as a 5-1 favorite.
Also of note: It’s interesting that Jones never finished the “elder” Rashad out of a sense of following protocol, but had no problem agreeing to a fight before he had even won the title.