Evans: I will get a title shot

CHICAGO | Rashad Evans has had gold around his waist. Wanting to have it back is a no-brainer.

On Saturday at the United Center, Evans has one last step to complete to get a shot at it. Unbeaten Phil Davis stands in his way when the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Chicago for the first time in more than three years.

Evans (16-1-1, 11-1-1 UFC) and Davis (9-0, 5-0 UFC) will headline a UFC card that will be nationally televised on Fox, and if Evans wins, he has been promised a light heavyweight title shot against champion Jon Jones - his former friend and training partner.

Davis hasn't necessarily been promised the same shot at Jones that Evans will get, and Davis says he is OK with that. Evans said he can't worry about his title shot versus Davis' potential future.

"I think his record speaks for itself, so why not put him in there and see what he's got?" Evans, a Chicago resident, said Wednesday after a workout at the Chicago Boxing Club in Bridgeport. "I just go out there and I fight. I don't really know who's deserving of what — I leave that to (the media) to decide."

Evans held the UFC's light heavyweight title for all of one fight before losing it in his first title defense. He's been chasing the title ever since then. A planned bout against former champion Mauricio Rua didn't come to fruition thanks to a Rua injury. Evans waited on the sidelines, which proved detrimental when Evans got hurt himself a month before the fight. Jones, then his friend, got the title shot instead, won the belt, and has defended it twice since then while the timing to meet Evans hasn't ever worked out.

Now Evans knows a win against Davis could finally get him that shot. If he comes out unscathed against Davis, Jones awaits, but Evans said he can't look past Davis because he's seen first-hand how everything can change quickly, and he could be left stranded again if Jones can't fight in April.

"That's up to Jon," Evans said. "Right now, he's on top of the world - so I guess he gets to make those choices. I'm trying to get to where he's at."

Evans and Davis are the headlining fight at UFC on Fox on Saturday. The co-main event, in the middleweight division, Chael Sonnen against Michael Bisping, with the winner getting a shot at champion Anderson Silva this summer.