Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans finally has a date with his nemesis Jon Jones, and he believes that he knows how to get his belt back. In a video interview on UFC.com, he discussed what he learned from training with Bones, and what he thinks he can exploit in their UFC 145 fight (transcribed by MMA Mania):

"I know how to beat him. There are things about his game which he can't change. The fact that we used to train together gives me a lot of confidence. I know where I need to get to with Jon in order to fight my game. Jon's a tall guy, I can't, obviously, fight on the outside. I gotta get inside where I can fight my game. I see a lot of spaces in Jon's game for a lot of different things. I'm to the point where it doesn't matter who you are, if I take you down, I'm going to unleash my ground and pound on you. I think I've improved more since the last time we trained together. I'm in a new environment, I had to learn. He's in the same environment, same coaches, learning the same thing. I will defeat Jon Jones and become UFC light heavyweight champion."

Clearly Rashad has learned some new things since he left, but I'm thinking that Greg Jackson is a crafty guy and will probably change up Jon's training a bit too. Plus, Jones evolves so quickly that Rashad is likely to see stuff from him that he never saw in training. Does Rashad really have the edge because he knows his opponent so well? I'm hesitant to agree.

You can watch the whole video over on UFC.com.

SBN coverage of UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans