THE CANADIAN PRESS
Count Georges St-Pierre among those feeling uncomfortable at the looming title fight between light-heavyweight champion Jon (Bones) Jones and Rashad Evans.
Jones and Evans are former training partners who now find themselves at odds. St-Pierre is among those caught in the crossfire.
“It’s a pretty weird situation right now,” the UFC welterweight champion told The Canadian Press.
Evans was slated to meet Mauricio (Shogun) Rua earlier this month at UFC 128 in Newark. But he injured his knee in training and the UFC gave his title shot to Jones, who trained with Evans at Greg Jackson’s gym in Albuquerque, N.M.
Jones, who deflected questions about Evans in the pre-fight buildup, dominated Rua in winning the 205-pound title.
Evans, unhappy that a training partner had put himself in the title path ahead of him, subsequently parted ways with the Jackson camp.
And he made his feelings pretty clear in calling the new champion “Judas Jones” in a tweet.
Evans, who lost the title to Lyoto (The Dragon) Machida, continues to train with St-Pierre in Montreal and the two are friends.
“I was in Albuquerque not too long ago and both guys were there. And unfortunately Rashad got hurt and I was there when it happened,” said St-Pierre.
“I don’t know what to say. Me, I would not fight a friend but it happens sometimes that I have two friends that are fighting each other. It’s kind of an awkward situation.”
Jones and Evans are slated to meet later this year.
Jackson has said he will stay out of the situation by not cornering either fighter. But the trainer has also said that Evans initially sanctioned Jones joining his gym.
Controversy aside, St-Pierre spoke highly of the 23-year-old Jones’ skills.
“Jon Jones is amazing,” he said. “He’s probably considered the best pound-for-pound (fighter) right now — in my books. He’s a very good fighter.”
St-Pierre is training for his title defence against Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto on April 30.
