Rashad "If Jones agree to fight, if we say we are going to fight, it's over.

dave1982

Rashad Evans apeared yesterday on his "Suga and Pep" segment of Pro MMA Radio. Rashad new role on PMR every week has been well received, thanks in part to his refreshing candor and honesty, which were on display. The quote immediately below is from towards the close of the show.

"I just have to sit down and decide on whats its going to be, because whatever it is going to be, there is no going back. There is no making it better. There is no going back to the team after it is done."

"If we agree to fight, if we say we are going to fight, it's over."

"If theres a chance I am going to fight someone then I want to be able to keep an advantage somehow. If we are both drinking from the same well, learning the same knowledge, with the same camp, with the same partners, then how am I going to surprise them? He knows what I know."

"I would need to divorce myself from the situation and just start over, and come with something new. I would divorce myself from the crew, from Jackson's"

"Trevor would be separate because he is at Grudge. on rtrains in Albuquerque, so I just would divorce myself from albequerque and from training with Greg."

- Jones signed up at Jackson's under the proviso that he would NEVER fight any of the other Jackson's fighters.

- Rashad talked with Jones after the interview he gave where Jones said that he would fight him. Rashad was very surprised. Jones had never expressed this. The interview was pretaped and Rashad never received a call or text alerting him to it. His reaction on ESPN was one of surprise when he said "I'm not a punk; if he says he'll fight me, I'll fight him."

- They had a conversation afterward and Rashad left feeling like there was more that needed to be discussed...this bridge would be crossed when it needed to be.

- Rashad was asked about Jones' frustrated comments on the media conference call where Jones first said he wouldn't be taking Rashad into the cage with him though he was his friend and went on to say: "I have a lot of people outside of Rashad who I can draw energy and power from and they'll all be with me."

- "That does sound a little bit cold-blooded", Rashad replied after hearing the above quote. "Jon's a young guy and when you're a young guy sometimes you talk a little too fast for your brain to keep up...I don't think it's acceptable at all. I don't think it's something I'd say."

- Next, this Jones quote was brought up by Pepe: "I absolutely hate when people mention Rashad Evans, especially throughout this training camp....for people to even be mentioning Rashad Evans right now...I think it's ludicrous. Rashad is not in my mind, he's not in my being, he has absolutely zero to do with my heart and who I am right now. This guy has nothing to do with Shogun and from here on out, I don't think I'll answer a question about Rashad."
Rashad replied with "it sounds like he wants to fight, huh? Those sound like fighting words". He went on to say, "Ya know, I don't know how to judge the kid. It's kinda messed up, to be honest. Ya know, I can't control what anyone else says and it sounds to me like he's a little bit insecure about the whole thing. Sometimes when you open your mouth you show what you're afraid of more than anything. I don't know why he has such an adverse response like that to me. I've never challenged him or made him feel like he should do that sort of thing. It sounds to me -- if I was out of the situation -- that he was feeling insecure about me [not Shogun responding to Pepe's point]."

- Rashad goes on to point out fairly eloquently about how you have to answer reporters' questions to the best of your ability. You can't just expect to not talk about a situation where you stepped in for a friend and training partner in a title fight who was injured. He does say that that made Jon "sound like a baby".

- When asked to rank his feelings toward fighting Jones on a scale of 1-10, Rashad didn't say how likely he would be to fight Jon but said his mind is very open to it because of how things have gone. He's finding out that his teammate may fight him over TV and that this is not how things are done. Out of respect to the coach and Jon, he'll talk to them before he pulls the trigger.

- Rashad says that he's been working a lot with Trevor Wittman over the last few camps. Trevor is his guy and he's been spending time with him including the last two camps. By the way Rashad is talking, it seems like he doesn't have a problem fighting his training partners; that he agrees with Trevor. It sounds like Rashad had enough respect for Greg Jackson's agreement to not fight his training partners that he went along with Jackson's law. Now that the school has grown and Jones has said he would fight Evans and Jackson has not intervened and restated his mandate that Jones never fight any training partners, things may be different.

About time for this to happen

Sid_Justice

if jones is LHW champion this is all relevant. if he loses, i don't see the nescessity in the two of them fighting, unless they actually do fall out over this. i think dana white has a fetish about trying to get team mates to fight, i think it's one of your best bets never to let him know there's a guy you don't want to fight cos he'll get joe silva all over it

Sid_Justice

Sid_Justice wrote: »

i think dana white has a fetish about trying to get team mates to fight

This made my day...

Dana White wrote:

Oh yeah good fight guys now.......Fight eachother Muhuhahaha

Niall0

Seems to me theres way too much talk about Rashad vs Jones right now, Jones still has to beat Shogun!

I reckon even if Jones loses now he'll fight Rashad while Rampage/Hamil fight Shogun.

fakearms123

They shouldnt even be talking about any of this until 2 seconds after the fight this weekend, Shogun is the champ, no one seems to realise that he is in this title picture too

Turtyturd

As much as I like Jones I am pulling for Shogun on Saturday....however part of me wants Jones to win so I can see Rashad getting knocked out like a rag doll ala the Machida fight.

pauldoo

All the pre talk fight is about jones v evans, i think shogun is being showed a lack of respect, i hope shogun destroys jones, knock rashad on his ass and then a rematch with rampage-under pride rules

d_jordan

pauldoo wrote: »

All the pre talk fight is about jones v evans, i think shogun is being showed a lack of respect, i hope shogun destroys jones, knock rashad on his ass and then a rematch with rampage-under pride rules

That would be deadly:D:D

pauldoo

The countdown show to Shogun v Rampage could be all about shougun workin on his soccer kicks

MrStuffins

Jaysus, this whole Jones v Rashad thing is annoying! why are people assuming Jones will be the champ after Saturday?

And f*ck Rashad! I don't like his talk, I don't like his fighting style, I don;t like the fact he dodged machida and sat out for a year so he could fight for the title and I don't like the fact that he'd have refused a fight with Jones for the title!

Imagine someone like Chris Lytle, Spencer Fisher, Kurt Pelegrino, Clay Guida etc fighting their way into contention and saying "whoa, if the champ at the time is a friend, i'm not fighting him".

They'd be replaced in the fight, never given another title shot, and probably get their walking papers!

I hope Shogun KOs Bones and then creams Rashad! Let's see him pick and choose fights then!

d_jordan

MrStuffins wrote: »

Jaysus, this whole Jones v Rashad thing is annoying! why are people assuming Jones will be the champ after Saturday?

And f*ck Rashad! I don't like his talk, I don't like his fighting style, I don;t like the fact he dodged machida and sat out for a year so he could fight for the title and I don't like the fact that he'd have refused a fight with Jones for the title!

Imagine someone like Chris Lytle, Spencer Fisher, Kurt Pelegrino, Clay Guida etc fighting their way into contention and saying "whoa, if the champ at the time is a friend, i'm not fighting him".

They'd be replaced in the fight, never given another title shot, and probably get their walking papers!

I hope Shogun KOs Bones and then creams Rashad! Let's see him pick and choose fights then!

True

p to the e

It's amazing the lack of respect Shogun is getting in regard to this fight. I even checked on Paddy Power and he's the underdog (which I'm gonna stick a few quid on). I would certainly love to see Shogun take it.

dave1982

Jones is great but he stepping up a level fighting Shogun.No one gave him a chance against Machida either

Look Shogun has fought the best of the best,when they were at their best in Pride.

I see Shogun taking this one

People say Shogun has seen his days but they forget he's only 29. The same age as GSP. 30 is usually the prime for MMA fighters isn't it? So by that logic a prime Shogun beats an up and coming Jones every time. The Shogun Era should last a while but there's still that little doubt in my head that comes with every MMA match where anything can happen, Jones has that unpredictability to make that happen, it's a very long shot though.

Fromvert

Age wouldn't be the main reason for fighters decline. I'd think the amount of fights and damage you've taken has a bigger effect on your ability to continue fighting.
Main examples would be Wanderlai and Big Nog both 34 but have had 45 and 40 fights. Taking a a lot of shots in those fights as well.

Shogun although hasn't had as many fights and hasn't taken near the amount of damage as the two above but he's had a few major injuries which would have taken something out of his body.

I still think Shogun will win by KO though. Have yet to see how Jones handles getting hit.

dave1982

Yeah agreed Shogun should win by KO

off topic but

Chris Lytle easily 70 plus fights including boxing.


And then theres Travis Fulton 253 mma fights and 30 odd Boxing fights in 15 years works out at 19 fights a year:eek:

Only 2 UFC fights

Mixed martial arts record
Total 253
Wins 195
By knockout 64
By submission 124
By decision 6
Losses 46
By knockout 5
By submission 25
By decision 14
Draws 11
No contests 1

Tones69

Wanna see Shogun destroy Jones then Rashad v Shogun end of summer. ONE thing though about Shogun, Im not so sure that his takedown defense is up to the challenge of Jones, we all know hes goin for the takedown EARLY

danlen

MrStuffins wrote: »

And f*ck Rashad! I don't like his talk, I don't like his fighting style, I don;t like the fact he dodged machida and sat out for a year so he could fight for the title and I don't like the fact that he'd have refused a fight with Jones for the title!

Imagine someone like Chris Lytle, Spencer Fisher, Kurt Pelegrino, Clay Guida etc fighting their way into contention and saying "whoa, if the champ at the time is a friend, i'm not fighting him".

In fairness to Rashad he's not the first fighter to state they wouldn't fight a teammate. In fact, I would reckon its pretty standard for fighters from the same gym to not accept fights with each other.

P.S As a side note I don't really see the problem with Rashad himself. Admittedly he has used a lot more wrestling in his past few fights but in general I enjoy his fights. I also really like him as a pundit, on MMA Live he gives really intelligent analysis and comes across pretty well imo. Although I do understand that there is a fair amount of people who just dont like him.

P.P.S. Shogun by KO!!

danlen

Tones69 wrote: »

Wanna see Shogun destroy Jones then Rashad v Shogun end of summer. ONE thing though about Shogun, Im not so sure that his takedown defense is up to the challenge of Jones, we all know hes goin for the takedown EARLY

Shogun does have a very underrated ground game though. His half-guard in particular is considered very good (actually didn't he submit Randleman from half-guard?). Will be interesting to see how the fight is going to play out, can't wait now!

Onearmedbandit

I agree with what DW said in one of his latest video blogs. Fighters can't be that picky who they fight in the sport especially when it could be to get a title shot or for the title itself.

I know its not an exact comparison but it happens on TUF all the time (Half of Rashad's team had to fight their team mates on the show) so I don't see why its such a huge problem.

dave1982

Onearmedbandit wrote: »

I agree with what DW said in one of his latest video blogs. Fighters can't be that picky who they fight in the sport especially when it could be to get a title shot or for the title itself.

I know its not an exact comparison but it happens on TUF all the time (Half of Rashad's team had to fight their team mates on the show) so I don't see why its such a huge problem.

Heard its a lot to with the trainers more so the fighters.

Should Rashad Jones happen one of them has to leave the Jackson camp.

Costing Jackson money by losing a fighter to get paid by for his training he can train both.

Sid_Justice

dave1982 wrote: »

Heard its a lot to with the trainers more so the fighters.

Should Rashad Jones happen one of them has to leave the Jackson camp.

Costing Jackson money by losing a fighter to get paid by for his training he can train both.

that's dana white's explanation, i dont know if i buy it.

-Vega-

Oh well , thats Shogun done.