Jon Jones ‘humbled’ following recent praise from Rashad Evans

Current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was recently dubbed ‘the best in history’ by former division champion Rashad Evans.

Although Evans and Jones are former rivals, “Suga” showed no animosity when discussing “Bones” in a recent interview with TMZ.

“Without a doubt, Jon Jones [is the best I’ve faced],” Rashad Evans said. “When it comes down to it, I think that Jon Jones is the best in history. Apart from his troubles outside the cage and things like that — when he’s inside the cage, he’s dynamic. He’s got some skill. But, I would say technically speaking, he’s probably the best fighter. When you fight guys that good, you feel like after the fight is over, there’s another level that I need to get to,” Evans added. “You don’t feel like, ‘aw man, I had a bad day.’ You just feel, ‘man, I need to get to another level to be able to beat this guy.’”

Rashad Evans and Jon Jones met way back at UFC 145 in 2012, with “Bones” emerging victorious by way of unanimous decision.

Depsite what was a bitter rivalry seven years ago, Evans clearly has nothing but respect for Jones ability as a mixed martial artist.

The high praise from his former teammate did not go unnoticed by Jones. The reigning UFC light heavyweight champion took to Twitter with the following rebuttal of respect for Rashad Evans.

Big words coming from such an icon of our sport. I’m truly honored and humbled. Whether you know it or not you’ve been a role model to me, I sincerely thank you for your contribution to myself, the sport and so many around the world. pic.twitter.com/Y4tKp0WBuG

— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 31, 2019

“Big words coming from such an icon of our sport. I’m truly honored and humbled. Whether you know it or not you’ve been a role model to me, I sincerely thank you for your contribution to myself, the sport and so many around the world.”

A nice show of respect from a pair of UFC legends.

Jon Jones will return to the octagon in the headliner of July’s UFC 239 event, where he will square off with Brazilian knockout artist Thiago Santos.