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'Jealous' Rashad is no longer No. 1 contender - Jones

Jon Jones believes Rashad Evans should have to fight Dan Henderson or Phil Davis to regain No. 1 contender status © Getty Images

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Jon Jones has accused a "jealous" Rashad Evans of ducking him, and the UFC light-heavyweight champion believes it is time Evans lost his No. 1 contender status.

Jones and Evans have long been on collision course for a championship bout, but a series of injuries have forced the postponement of multiple meetings. The latest setback sees Rashad sidelined by an ongoing hand problem, leaving Jones to fight Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 on December 10.

Evans had originally expected to be fit for the December bout, but a doctor has delayed his return to full training by three weeks, leaving him too little time to prepare for a five-round war. Jones is not buying the excuse though, insisting Evans has found an escape route not to fight his old team-mate.

"He's tried to call me out on nine weeks' notice," Jones told MMAFighting. "Rashad calls me out, predicting that I would say no, to make me look like I was ducking him again, and I say yes, and now he says, 'Oh, I didn't know he would say yes. I don't want to fight him.'

"He called Dana White, asked for UFC 140, Dana White called me and said Rashad wants this fight. I gave him the fight he wanted and then he pulled out.

"Rashad, predicting that I would say no, he kind of kicked himself in the butt because I said yes, he turns around and says, 'Oh, I didn't expect Jon to say yes. I don't want to fight him that soon.' So in reality, he's kind of the one who's ducking the fight. I feel like he's ducking the fight."

Evans' latest withdrawal means he will only have fought once in 19 months by the time he is free to compete again. That one bout came against former champion Tito Ortiz, who is arguably past his prime, and Jones insists such a record is not worthy of No.1 contender status.

"Obviously I want to fight him, but how long are you going to get to wait and sit around?" Jones asked. "You go from not fighting for a whole year, and then you get a fight like Tito Ortiz, which everybody knows where Tito is at in his career, and now he just gets to sit around and be the No. 1 contender again?

"It looks like he's the one that's sitting on his glory and riding his glory. There's tons of guys out there. I think when he gets better, he should have to fight Phil Davis or Dan Henderson. How does he get the right to just sit around and say who he is going to fight and when he is going to fight and continue to be the No. 1 contender while everybody else fights all year long?"

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