UFC champ Jones declines surgery, could still face Evans before year's end

A lingering hand injury that forced Jon Jones out of a planned UFC 133 matchup with Rashad Evans will not require surgery.

Jones was scheduled to go under the knife on Thursday to repair ligament damage in his right hand, but a pre-op insepction revealed something initial testing had not: while the champ was certainly suffering from a painful injury, surgery was more of a choice than a requirement.

While the decision to delay surgery until absolutely necessary means Jones will have to fight through the pain for the immediate future, "Bones" decided to rely on his first instinct and avoid the procedure as long as possible.

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