Rashad Evans praises “phenomenal fighter” Jon Jones, believes “Bones” will dominate the UFC heavyweight division

UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans praised “phenomenal fighter” Jon Jones and said he believes “Bones” will dominate the UFC heavyweight division.

Evans and Jones were former training partners at Team Jackson – Wink a decade ago, but they had a falling out and eventually fought, with Jones defeating Evans via unanimous decision at UFC 145 in April 2012. Although both men are no longer close friends, there is still that mutual respect there between each other as former friends and training partners. In many ways, Evans gave Jones the torch to carry at 205lbs and he ran away with it.

Though he is currently retired, Evans himself is considering a comeback to combat sports, but when speaking to TMZ Sports, “Suga” was asked about Jones and what he thinks about him moving up to heavyweight. For Evans, he believes this will be a successful transition.

“Jon moving up, it’s going to be a continuation of the legacy of Jon Jones. Jon Jones is a phenomenal athlete, he’s a phenomenal fighter, and his IQ inside the Octagon can’t be surpassed by anybody. So I expect him to carry that to the heavyweight division. The things that I think may give him problems are that these guys are bigger and they do hit harder. But fo the most part, this is the great Jon Jones. Jon Jones can make an adjustment to anything,” Evans said.

Although Evans expects Jones to do well at heavyweight, he does caution “Bones” that a fight against UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou could prove to be quite tough.

“I would say, though, the fight with Francis, him and Francis, that is one that is a very intriguing fight because he’s going against a guy who takes away some of the advantages that he’s been able to enjoy for so long. Having a long reach, being the stronger fighter, and all those other aspects that he’s been able to bring to the table. So it’s going to be interesting to see if he’s able to bring that to the heavyweight division, but at the same time, it’s hard to say that he won’t because this is Jon Jones,” Evans said.

Do you agree with Rashad Evans that Jon Jones will dominate the UFC heavyweight division?