Rashad Evans on Quinton Jackson: “He won’t last a round with Jon Jones. You can’t catch him moving like Frankenstein”
Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Rashad Evans has been giving his thoughts on the UFC 135 clash between Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson, predicting “Rampage” won’t last a round with the young champion and that his chances of catching him are zero.
Speaking via SI.com, Evans said:
“Listen, Rampage is a bunch of untapped potential. He showed sparks of great potential in the Pride days, and I don’t even think he was as good as he could have been even in the Pride days. But the thing about it is, now, Rampage has gotten lazy. He’s gotten lazy, and he’s gotten comfortable. He’s got some money, he’s got fame, and everything else like that, and he’s gotten lazy, he doesn’t have that same hunger. And you’re going against someone like Jon Jones, who technically is a better fighter, who is younger, and who’s hungrier. So how’s he going to match that? His footwork is bad, his boxing is not good, and his wrestling, he got away from. So I don’t see — I really don’t see how he can win this fight. I can see if he catches him with a punch, because he’s got a lot of power, but that may be the only thing, if he catches him with a punch. But if he don’t catch him with a punch, he’s going to get finished off. Unless he makes himself a student of the game again. It would have to be a complete transformation from what I’ve seen from him in the last few fights. The guy who fought Matt Hamill? He won’t last a round with Jon Jones.”
“Rampage is good at countering. He’s not really fast if he initiates a punch, but he’s very fast off of the counter. But then again, Jones is so long, is he going to be able to get close enough to catch him with a counter when Jones strikes him? He has to work on his footwork. He’s too flat footed. When he walks, when he’s fighting, he doesn’t shuffle his feet or move them. He just plods and plods and plods and plods. He moves like Frankenstein. You can’t catch Jon Jones moving like Frankenstein.”
Evans could very well meet the winner of the Jones vs. Rampage clash should he defeat former champion, Tito Ortiz this weekend at UFC 133 in Philadelphia. Can the man dubbed “Suga” find the solution for “The huntington Beach Bad Boy” second time around? Tell us what you think…
By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)
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