Evans says he has mental edge over current UFC champ Jones

Despite Jon Jones’ meteoric rise in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Rashad Evans insists he still views the light heavyweight champion as the inexperienced kid who was in awe when he walked into the gym to train with Evans and his teammates a little more than two years ago.

Of course, Evans could just be trying to gain a psychological edge in advance of the long-awaited battle of former teammates that will finally happen at UFC 145 on April 21 in Atlanta.

“I’ve got the advantage mentally,” Evans said. “He’s not ‘Jon Jones, unbeatable champion’ to me. I know the real Jon, the nervous kid who would ask me to tell him how to dress, how to talk and how to fight. I know how he reacts when things don’t go his way, how he can’t handle it mentally.”

Evans, a former UFC champion, famously left trainer Greg Jackson’s gym in Albuquerque, N.M., last year when he made it clear he was never happy with Jackson for allowing Jones — who most assumed would ascend to the top of the light heavyweight ranks and eventually challenge Evans — to join the camp.

Though Jones and Evans often spoke of being friends before the split, Evans quickly worked to dispel that notion after leaving. The rivalry has only intensified as the fight has been put off several times for various reasons, and the rhetoric is expected to heat up in the final month before the two finally step inside the cage.

“I know all about him, all about his coaches and all about his camp. I could probably tell you what he’s doing in the gym right now,” said Evans, who now trains in Florida. “He’s in the exact same environment doing the exact same things with the exact same people. But I’m in a different environment, I knew I had to learn, had to mix things up, and I had to change. Jon has no idea what I will do on the night.”

Jones doesn’t seem too concerned.

“He thinks he knows everything I bring to the table, but a lot has changed since he left the gym a year ago,” he said. “I’m a much different fighter than the one he trained with. I hope he is ready to see and feel that difference.”

■ SILVA-SONNEN 2 SET — UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will defend his belt against Chael Sonnen, who provided Silva the stiffest test during his 5½-year title reign.

The rematch will take place in the main event of UFC 147 on June 23 at a soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The event is expected to break the organization’s attendance record, which currently stands at around 55,000.

Also on the card, Brazilian middleweights Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort will meet in a rematch of a fight won by Belfort in 1998.

■ OVEREEM IN COURT — Alistair Overeem, who is scheduled to challenge Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title on May 26 at the MGM Grand Garden, is expected in a Las Vegas courtroom today for a bench trial on a misdemeanor battery charge filed against him as a result of an incident outside a Strip nightclub in January.

Overeem is accused of shoving a woman in the early morning hours of Jan. 2 at Wynn Resort, causing her to “stagger back,” according to a citation issued by Las Vegas police.

If convicted by Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan in the nonjury trial, Overeem faces up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.