UFC 145: Evans vs. Jones: Chronicling the Rivalry

The UFC has never seen a rivalry quite like the one light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has with Rashad Evans.

At UFC 145 this Saturday, the two former friends, turned bitter enemies will go to war with one another inside the Octagon, but the buildup has been rather strange.

Unlike your occasional grudge match, the interactions between both of these men have been less enjoyable and more awkward for fans to watch, and I believe that speaks to the realism of this rivalry. It's  two guys that deep down still like each other, but they are forced into fighting because of rankings, egos and unfortunate circumstances.

This isn't the first time that we've seen two former friends fight in a grudge match, as Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz did it years ago, but who's to say that those two were really friends?

After watching one interview after another, I'm convinced that Evans and Jones really were friends, and if it wasn't for a mishandled interview and everything in between, they would most likely still be friends today.

This is the detailed history of Jones and Evans' bitter rivalry.

The Interview That Caused the Riff

Before their relationship took a turn for the worse, Jones was climbing the ranks in the light heavyweight division and Evans was getting ready for his title shot with then champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Both fighters bonded over the past couple of years at Jackson's MMA, and both openly said on a regular basis that they wouldn't fight one another. Evans' life then took an unexpected turn when he suffered a knee injury that would force him out of his title shot.

On the same day that Jones would fight and defeat Ryan Bader at UFC 126, UFC personality Joe Rogan informed Jones that the UFC wanted to give him the title shot following another dominant performance. Jones accepted, and the fight with Rua at UFC 128 was on.

This led to the infamous interview that would cause a riff in both fighters' relationship with the other. Being persistently annoying like we're known to be, the media constantly asked Jones if he would fight Evans if he won the title, and he deflected the question every time, except when he was interviewed by NBC Sports’ Ariel Helwani.

Airing live on national television on then Versus, Helwani asked Jones if he would fight Evans, and Jones told him that he would fight him if it's what UFC president Dana White wanted. This led to Evans feeling disrespected, and in his eyes, the fight was now inevitable.

Both fighters discussed this interview during the UFC 145 conference call, and Jones said that to this day, they have yet to show the full interview where he spoke highly of Evans. But Evans wasn't buying it during the call, and he said he knew Jones always wanted to fight him.

“Jon already knew what time it was, because when he called me, he already knew how I took it,” Evans said.

Feeling betrayed by his protege and coach Greg Jackson, Evans was the odd man out, and he decided to leave Jackson's MMA.

A Champion Is Born, the Blackzillians Are Created

With their friendship disintegrating before their eyes, Jones walked into UFC 128 against Rua without his friend Evans by his side.

It didn't matter, though. Jones destroyed Rua with spinning back elbows, flying knees and vicious ground-and-pound throughout the fight. Jones finished Rua in the third round and won the fight by TKO to become the youngest UFC champion in history.

Jones was on top of the world, while Evans' grudge toward Jones continued to build. Evans was rehabbing his knee and looking for a new place to call home, which he would eventually find in Florida when he created his new fight team, the Blackzilians.

The Blackzilians is a fight camp composed of mostly former members of Jackson's MMA and American Top Team.

Evans trained with the Blackzilians, while Jones continued to train with Jackson.

The Build Up

Throughout the past year, little has been said from Jones and Evans regarding one another.

Compared to past grudge matches like the ones both had with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the lead-up to this fight has been very quiet.

Both guys have fought twice since Jones dethroned Rua and took his belt, and both guys had dominating victories.

Jones picked Jackson apart and submitted him in the fourth round by rear naked choke at UFC 135, and then after surviving a scary round against Lyoto Machida, put Machida to sleep with a standing guillotine at UFC 140.

As for Evans, he had his way with Tito Ortiz before stopping him with a knee to the gut in the second round at UFC 133, and he dominated Phil Davis en route to a unanimous decision in the main event of UFC on Fox 2.

The buildup, for the most part, has been more quiet than expected between the two, but they did have an altercation at a nightclub in Las Vegas that occurred shortly after the split.

Both fighters told different stories about what happened that night, and as Jones was telling the story at the UFC 145 conference call, Evans interrupted and said the he was lying.

No punches were thrown that night, but both fighters had words with one another and were telling each other what they'd do to each other when they eventually fight in the Octagon.

The Psychological Aspect to the Rivalry

When you get down to it, this rivalry revolves around one man, Greg Jackson.

For most of the conference call, the fighters were cordial with one another, and Evans was reminiscing on the good times he had with Jones. But the two got into it when Evans' former coach and Jones' current coach came up in the discussion.

It's apparent to me that Evans holds a bigger grudge toward Jackson than he does to Jones, because in his eyes, Jackson picked Jones over him. Evans is one of the guys that made Jackson famous, and he trained with him for years, and after everything that has gone down, Jackson is going to be in Jones' corner come fight day.

That has to sting. And according to Evans, he wanted to avoid this situation from the beginning when Jackson asked Evans if Jones could join the team.

Evans was reluctant about it, but after Jackson assured him that they wouldn't have to fight each other, Evans complied.The rest is history, and it's sealed both fighters' fate on April 21.

I truly believe that Evans and Jones still want to be friends, and that they do miss each other's friendship.

Maybe that's why the stare-downs between the two are less enjoyable and more awkward. It simply doesn't feel right.

Whether they were friends, aren't friends or still want to be friends, they both have a date with destiny this Saturday at UFC 145, and the stakes of their friendship along with their legacies are on the line.

The Climax

After a year of buildup, in the words of Bruce Buffer, "it's time!"

Not only is this a fascinating fight on an emotional level because of their previous relationship, but it's a really fun style-clash.

Though Evans has more power, Jones has the advantage in the striking because of his variety of strikes and his reach. With that said, Evans is only one haymaker away from turning Jones' lights out. Heck, he did it to Chuck Liddell the last time the UFC was in Atlanta at UFC 88.

Both guys are great wrestlers, but nobody in MMA changes levels better than Evans. He mixes his strikes with his wrestling so well, and if he can get Jones to the ground, he should hold a strength advantage there.

Keeping all of that in mind and add in the fact that both of these fighters know the other's tendencies, it should make for a really fun main event.

The rivalry between Evans and Jones should conclude this Saturday no matter how the fight ends, and I can see both of them embracing after the fight.

This clash is something that had to happen out of respect, pride and simply because they're the best light heavyweights in the world. Expect an emotional battle between two fighters that have everything they've ever worked for at stake.