UFC President Dana White: Rashad Evans Future
By Sean Farrell
UFC light heavyweight contender Rashad Evans has been a hot topic in MMA as he was recently forced to give up his title shot against champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as a result of injuring his knee in training. Evans was waiting for “Shogun” to rehab his own knee injury and spent time on the shelf, a decision which UFC President Dana White has always questioned.
Now Evans’ teammate Jon Jones will face on “Shogun” and Evans has decided that he will move weight classes instead of fight his friend in Jones.
Enter Dana White, who blasted Evans stating he has friends fighting in almost every weight class in the UFC, and certainly the ones in which Evans can realistically compete. White went on to say “And now it’s in this (Jon Jones) situation where this guy is my friend and that guy is my friend. Dude you have way too many friends. You need to keep the friends thing down and stop training with people. Now he’s talking maybe I’ll go to heavyweight, maybe I’ll go to middleweight. Well if he goes to middleweight, Nate Marquardt is one of the top middleweights in the world, one of his friends. Shane Carwin is one of the best heavyweights in the world, that’s one of his friends. He’s got too many friends.”
However, if Evans should move down to middleweight anyway (the more likely option if Jones takes the belt), White says that he isn’t far from a title shot–as long as his friend Georges St. Pierre doesn’t win the belt in a super fight with middleweight champ Anderson Silva. White went on saying “Rashad at middleweight is one or two fights away (from a title shot), If we did a (Yushin) Okami vs. Rashad Evans fight and winner fights (Anderson) Silva or Georges St. Pierre. Oh but he won’t fight Georges St. Pierre because they’re friends.”
Evans last appeared in the Octagon against rival Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 114 in May of 2010. Evans he defeated “Rampage” by unanimous decision and hasn’t fought since.