ATLANTA -- The crowd seemed to agree with Rashad Evans' narrative for his fight this weekend against light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
In a rare reversal of sentiment for the often-unpopular Evans, he drew fewer boos than Jones at Friday's official weigh-ins for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's show this weekend in Atlanta. The crowd, which organizers estimated at roughly 5,500 in the Fox Theatre, offered a mixed reaction to Evans as he stepped onto the scale before roaring in disapproval for the entrance of Jones.
Both men made the light-heavyweight cut, with Jones at 205 pounds and Evans at 204.
With an occasionally combative approach to promoting fights
and a fighting style sometimes perceived as boring, Evans often draws the brunt of boos before his fights. But he has been launching verbal attacks at Jones for more than a year leading up to Saturday's UFC 145 main event.
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Evans characterizes Jones as a two-faced betrayer. Jones views Evans as bitter about being passed over for a title shot.
The champion has been jeered before at pre-fight events. For a title defense in September against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the crowd at the weigh-ins in Denver cheered the challenger far more than Jones.
Before the main eventers took to the stage, the crowd was polite for all the fighters, although heavyweight Brendan Schaub drew louder cheers than most of his colleagues.
Every fighter on the UFC 145 card made weight except for John Makdessi, who officially weighed in at 158 pounds for his lightweight bout against Anthony Njokuani. Makdessi will forfeit 20% of his purse.
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