A UFC legend reveals the phone call he had with Jon Jones after ‘Bones’ called him out for a fight.
After retiring last month, to the surprise of Tom Aspinall, who found out the night before, fans have been unsure of how to react.
While Jones has just retired and left UFC fans frustrated by not getting the Aspinall fight over the line, he has still had callouts from Bo Nickal, who challenged him to a wrestling match.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC
When he was competing in the octagon as the organisation’s next big thing, he was the young upstart calling out a whole host of competition, even training partners and friends.
Rashad Evans reveals the one-word response from Jon Jones in phone call prior to 2012 fight
Rashad Evans, an MMA staple, used to be friends with the elite wrestler before his title success.
Both were in the same stable and light heavyweight division, Evans was supposed to have a shot at the title belt until he suffered an injury.
But after becoming the youngest champion at 23, the New Yorker called out his teammate much to his surprise.
Speaking to the Pound 4 Pound podcast, he said: “I started to hear that he was talking s- – – and then he was talking about how he will whoop me. I was hearing through the grapevine vine and then he made it public, and he was talking to Ariel Helwani.
“Back then, I was a young man, I wanted to fight everybody too, so when he said that, I was like ‘Oh word’.”
Kamura Usman and Henry Cejudo asked Evans how he dealt with the challenge by the future Hall of Famer, with ‘Suga’ revealing the short response from the champion.
He laughed: “I’m calling him up, I’m like you said, you’ll fight me this, that, and the other.
“He was just like ‘Yeah’.”
Rashad would lose a unanimous decision to Jones in their 2012 fight and never have the chance to avenge his defeat.
‘Very difficult’ for Tom Aspinall to reach Jon Jones level, says Khabib Nurmagomedov
While many still have questions over the legacy of the MMA star, Khabib Nurmagomedov believes reaching the levels of the now-retired fighter is difficult for anyone but especially Aspinall.
Speaking in a recent interview, he claimed: “So, whether or not he should’ve fought Aspinall, that question will probably always be out there.
“But that’s one question. Another is when Aspinall completes his career and Jon Jones finishes his, only then will people understand their levels.
“Then we’ll really be able to compare. For Aspinall to reach Jones’ level, his legacy, that’ll be extremely hard. Very difficult.”
Nurmagomedov himself is considered to be in the conversation as one of the greatest of all time after remaining undefeated in his career.
Of course, the British heavyweight is only at the beginning of his journey, and he could always exceed the levels of his predecessors in the sport.