Jon Jones has gotten a mass of hate over the last year or so for standing up and saying he would fight his one time teammate Rashad Evans. He’s even referred to Rashad as being ‘like a brother’ in the past, so when he stepped up and told Dana he would take a fight with Rashad for the light heavyweight title it caused a big divide in the Jackson’s MMA family that will probably never be repaired. The divide cut so deep that Rashad ultimately left the camp he helped build into what it is today. Yes it is a touchy situation, but really it’s not all that different from a typical sibling rivalry.
In most families siblings are competitive. The older brother usually ends up jealous of the attention, freedom and lax parenting the younger brother receives. The younger brother wants to avenge all the beatings and teasings the older brother made him endure simply because he was younger and smaller. Add to the sibling rivalry the primitive male drive to be the alpha lion of the his pride and eventually all brothers that end up living in the same ‘house’ for a long period of time will have to duke it out for top spot. Some guys are OK with sitting back and letting the incumbant ‘king’ lion remain king until he decides to step down. Jon Jones just isn’t that kind of lion.
Jones wanted to be the king of Jackson’s MMA and the light heavyweights and the only way to do it was to fight his ‘brother’ for the title. Sticky situation but primal desire can drive someone to get what they want by any means necessary. Thanks to Rashad losing the belt to Machida and then an injury the two have delayed the ultimate brotherly battle for over a year. Next weekend the two will finally get to release all the pent up anger and frustration at UFC 145 in Atlanta. Should Jones win and retain the light heavy weight title, some folks are already asking if he would be willing to step in and fight another guy he considers to be ‘like a brother and a really cool dude’ -Junior Dos Santos.
Check out this Jones talking casually with PricklyPearStudios.com this week about his all of the drama surrounding his relationship with Rashad Evans, the upcoming fight and even how he would feel about stepping in for Reem to fight JDS. Not only would Jones have to pack on a good twenty pounds or so, that would also mean he’d be fighting two title fights in about a month’s time period. The idea is absolute madness but utterly amazing all at once. Check it out-Jones starts discussing JDS at about the 6 minute mark:
