What had quickly become UFC’s most-anticipated fight of 2011 will not occur as planned, MMAJunkie reports.
Sources have indicated that UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones has been forced to postpone his scheduled title defense against Rashad Evans due to his right-hand ligament injury. The uncertainty behind Jones’ recovery time forced the premiere fighting organization to call an audible for the anticipated title match.
According to both MMAJunkie and the Canadian Press, UFC is eyeing Phil Davis as a replacement opponent for Evans. Davis technically possesses a stronger wrestling background than Jones and has similarly been hyped as a future force at 205, although a lackluster, albeit victorious, performance against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in his most recent fight led analysts to halt the comparisons to the division’s prodigy of a champion.
Notable is the fact that the fight with Davis will not be for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Evans, the division’s number one contender, took an extended hiatus from fighting to wait for then-champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to recover from an injury last year.
When “Shogun” recovered, the title match was finally set for March 2011, but an unexpected injury to Evans cost him the immediate opportunity and produced Jones as a challenger for the belt.
Jones easily defeated Rua at UFC 128, and based on animosity between the former Team Jackson peers, Evans emerged as the first challenger for Jones’ title. Evans now takes on a very capable challenger as he continues his quest to reclaim the gold.
MMAJunkie says the Evans-Davis fight is eyed for UFC 133 in August.
