UFC 145 Atlanta Jones vs. Evans

UFC 145 Jones vs. Evans takes place this Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia.  Light heavy weight champ Jon “Bones” Jones (15-1-0) looks to continue his domination at 185 by defending his title against former team mate and friend Rashad “Suga” Evans (21- 1-1).

According to who is asked, each combatant differs on the varying degree of their former friendship with Evans claiming it was a big brother/little brother relationship.  Jones has stated several times that they were just training partners and nothing more.  An underlying subplot here is what appeared to be Coach Greg Jackson seemingly dropping his student Rashad and gravitating to Jon.  A rule against fighting a team mate seems to have existed and it was this comment, that Jones would fight Evans, that started this feud and lead to Rashad leaving Jackson MMA.

Both fighters seemed prepped for this match and each brings a unique style to this fight.   Jones comes into this match having walked through 3 former champions in Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson and Mauricio Rua, with Evans being the 4^th in as many fights.  He brings a devastating array of striking and creativity to his fights.  Rashad Evans brings elusive defense, quickness, superior takedowns and wrestling to his bouts.  This fight is truly a match-up of opposite styles with the added addition of two former teammates who know each other inside and out.

Rounding out the main card is Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills, Brendan Schaub vs. Ben Rothwell, Mark Hominick vs. Eddie Yagin, and Mark Bocek vs. John Alessio.  The event kicks off on free fights on face book by liking the UFC and continues with more

prelims on FX.  Tune in for a great night of mma.

My picks for UFC 145 are as follows:

Jones in a harder than expected fight.

Schaub 3^rd round TKO.

Hominick by decision.

Mills by KO.

Alessio by submission.

Question my knowledge? Think you have better picks?

You can leave your picks in the comment section below, via EMAIL, or on The Official Facebook Page of The Ultimate Fight Show. And don’t forget to follow the ever knowledgeable Chris Bragg on Twitter, @TheBraggMan.

The following is a trailer for Jones vs. Evans:  http://youtu.be/2FnnU74tav8 .