Rashad Evans Says Experience with Jon Jones Gives Him Confidence to Win

Rashad Evans' past with Jon Jones has the former UFC light heavyweight champion feeling very confident in his skills to dethrone the 24-year-old and recapture the title.

The two former teammates spent a considerable amount of time training out of Greg Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts in New Mexico just a short time ago. Eventually both competitors would have to square off at some point, causing a rift between them, which forced Evans to switch camps.

But as Evans told UFC.com, he believes a new training camp has allowed him to evolve into a better fighter than Jones.

"I think I've improved more since the last time we trained together," Evans said. "I'm in a new environment, I had to learn. He's in the same environment, same coaches, learning the same thing."

Evans also added that his experience training with Jones will give him an advantage in the bout and the opportunity to expose flaws in the champion's arsenal, something that no one has come close to doing thus far.

"I know how to beat him. There are things about his game which he can't change. The fact that we used to train together gives me a lot of confidence," he said. "I see a lot of spaces in Jon's game for a lot of different things."

Evans has obviously become a much more complete fighter than he was during his tenure with his former camp in New Mexico.

However, Jones has too. 

It will be intriguing to see if Evans' time away from Greg Jackson has benefited him, or if Jones is the superior fighter to "Suga."