According to UFC President Dana White, newly crowned Light Heavyweight Champion Jon "Bones" Jones will make his first title defense against former friend and teammate "Suga" Rashad Evans sometime this Fall.
White revealed the promotion's plans for the match-up while interacting with MMA fans on The Underground Forum. When asked for a timeline on the much anticipated bout, he simply replied, "Sept or Oct."
Jones captured the title last month at UFC 128, where he put on, perhaps, the most impressive performance of his young career, dominating then-champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua en-route to a third round TKO victory. It was his second outing in just six weeks, as "Bones" was pegged as a late replacement for Evans, his training partner at Jackson's MMA, after defeating Ryan Bader in February.
Evans was forced out of his long awaited shot at the title due to an injury suffered during training. Although the two had previously sworn to never fight one another, it wasn't long before he and Jones began to reconsider their "no-fighting" friends policy. In the weeks leading up to the Jones-Rua match-up, each fighter went on record stating that they would, in fact, be open to the match-up if necessary. As a result, the UFC wasted little time pitting the 23-year-old against his now former friend and mentor.
Evans, feeling he has been betrayed by the camp, has since cut ties with Jackson's MMA and will, instead, prepare for the bout at Imperial Athletics in Florida. Though Greg Jackson, who served as head coach for both fighters in New Mexico, insists he will remain neutral, wrestling coach Mike Van Arsdale has opted to stick by Evans, while striking coach, Mike Winkeljohn, will continue working with Jones.
Winklejohn recently spoke to MMAFighting.com about his decision to train "Bones" for his first title defense:
"I'm positive I'm going to be working with Jon Jones because, well, the kid didn't do anything wrong. We have a good relationship (...) Rashad lost to Machida, and he basically left. I know he left me, so that's how I feel. Choosing sides? I don't know if that's the term for it, but he made that choice. I didn't make that choice (...) But in my mind, if I was fired by Rashad, I don't think I should take myself out of another job just because I used to work with the guy that fired me."
Regardless of who is to blame, or who sides with who, the match-up is now official. As for when or where, there is no word on an exact date or venue at this time. Stay tuned to LowKick.com for more information as it becomes available.
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