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According to a report from MMAJunkie.com, Jones suffered a torn ligament in his right hand in his victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua last month at UFC 128, and the recovery time is expected to be lengthy.
Davis once again steps into what will be the biggest fight of his career after defeating Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC Fight Night 24. The 26-year-old replaced an injured Tito Ortiz in that fight and moved his record to a perfect 9-0, but the win didn't come easy and he initially planned to take more time off to continue improving his skill set.
He'll now take on a former champion in Evans, who will return for the first time since a victory over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in May of 2010. A knee injury forced him out of his fight with Rua at UFC 128, which enabled Jones to step in and take the fight, and a win over Davis will keep that title fight in line for Evans.
UFC 133 is expected to take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn. on August 6, the UFC's first trip to Philadelphia since UFC 101 in August of 2009.
Link to Original Source Article
Penick's Analysis: This is a highly unfortunate development. Everything was laid in place for an epic fight between Evans and Jones with their history and the split of Evans from Greg Jackson's camp, and the two had already made plenty of public comments that were really going to make this a major, major fight. Phil Davis has a major opportunity to play spoiler, and though he had a rough time with Nogueira and will absolutely be a major underdog against Rashad, he does have the capability to derail a fight between Jones and Evans. A win won't send Davis into a title fight in this division, though, as it would more than likely just opens the door for Quinton "Rampage" Jackson if he beats Matt Hamill or the winner of Forrest Griffin-Shogun Rua II. Hell, if Hamill beats Rampage the UFC might throw him in there for a rematch with Jones if Evans loses. There's a lot to lose for Evans in this fight, but at the same time he's not going to sit out and wait longer for another fight when his opponent is injured like he did with Rua. Hopefully this doesn't keep Jones out for too long, but it's long enough that it is taking Evans into a different fight, so that's certainly not good news.
UPDATE: The UFC has confirmed the news. This fight will take place at UFC 133 in Philly. From the UFC's announcement:
"Undefeated 'Mr. Wonderful' Phil Davis has verbally agreed to face former UFC world light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans in Philadelphia on August 6," said UFC President Dana White. Evans was originally supposed to face new champ Jon 'Bones' Jones but Jones is unable to compete due to injury."
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