UFC 145 Results: What a Loss Would Mean to Rashad Evans

For Rashad Evans, a loss to Jon Jones at UFC 145 tonight is out of the picture.

His entire career has led up to this one moment, and should he lose to Jones tonight, he may never rebound from it.

Sure, he would go on and continue to be a successful fighter, but he will have failed to accomplish the one mission that means more to him than anything he's ever accomplished in his career—beating Jones.

This is his opportunity to inflict physical pain on Jones, after enduring the mental pain of dealing with Greg Jackson and leaving Jackson's MMA. This fight is a year in the making and after all of the build up and hype generated, he has to come out and have the best performance of his career.

If he loses, what does he have? He'll give Jones the title of best light heavyweight in the world, and will fail to prove Jackson wrong for basically siding with Jones.

It's not about winning the belt between these two. From the minute Jones won the light heavyweight championship and their relationship started to deteriorate, a meeting between the two became inevitable.

Simply put, a loss for Evans would be detrimental, and he would be emotionally distraught after losing to his former protege.

As Evans continues to age, his title shots will become more and more limited, so realistically, this could be Evans' last run at retaining the light heavyweight championship.

So not only is a personal vendetta on the line, but he may very well also have his legacy on the line tonight. A loss for Evans could very well be the beginning of the end of one of the greatest light heavyweights in MMA history.