Evans Had to Back Out of Title Fight Because of Lingering Thumb Issues at LinesMaker

Evans Had to Back Out of Title Fight Because of Lingering Thumb Issues

On Wednes­day, Dana White flipped out on Twit­ter on MMA media mem­bers who ran with a phony fight announce­ment that Rashad Evans would chal­lenge UFC light heavy­weight champ Jon Jones in Decem­ber at UFC 140. Now we know why.

The reports were erro­neous. Jones is fight­ing, but it’ll be Lyoto Machida try­ing to snatch his belt. Evans had to drop out of the pro­posed fight because of an injury.pro

“After my last fight against Tito Ortiz, I dis­lo­cated my right thumb, which required it to be set back in place and held with pins. 24 hours ago, my physi­cian removed the pins. At that time, I learned that it would require another three weeks of reha­bil­i­ta­tion before engag­ing in any exer­cise or train­ing that would require the use of my hand,” Evans said in a release.

He’s dis­ap­pointed, but knows the show must go on.

“Dana White and I spoke ear­lier today, and I fully under­stand his deci­sion to put Machida against Jones for the title at UFC 140. Given the reha­bil­i­ta­tion time I require for my dis­lo­cated thumb, I would not be 100 per­cent ready by Decem­ber 10,” Evans said. “The UFC has to keep mak­ing fights that enter­tain the fans. I would have done the same thing as Dana in his posi­tion. I’m ask­ing for the fans to sup­port me as I reha­bil­i­tate my hand, and I promise I will be back fight­ing very quickly.”

Jones and Evans have a nasty rivalry brew­ing. The trained together at Jackson’s MMA in Albu­querque before Evans left to train else­where. They were sched­uled to meet at UFC 133 in August, but Jones had to bail from the fight with his own hand injury. Now Jones must defend his belt against the very tough Machida to get his shot at Jones.

Related: Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, UFC 140

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