UFC 133: Rashad Evans on the Cusp

By Siri Karri

In my humble opinion, I believe Rashad Evans’s career is in danger. Partially it’s his fault, and partially it’s the bizarre circumstances that seem to surround any fight card he is scheduled on.

Now I never liked Rashad Evans; I hate anyone who is excessively arrogant and carries a disrespectful swagger before, during and after the fight. However, I will never deny that Rashad’s romp to the title was easily one of the most exciting in the light-heavyweight division. His knockouts of Jason Lambert, Sean Salmon, and Chuck Liddell are still considered some of the most brutal in the sport and his 3 round back and forth title win over Forrest Griffin remains a classic. I hated Rashad Evans, but I loved watching him fight.

Recently though it almost seems as though Rashad has . . . regressed in terms of his growth as a fighter. He has won his last two fights decisively, but grinded out decisions instead using his flashy (and lethal) boxing which used to make highlight reels.

At UFC 108 Rashad Evans faced Thiago Silva, a heavy handed Brazilian striker whose only loss up to that point was a knockout to Lyoto Machida (the same man who knocked out and took Rashad Evans’s title). While Silva was undoubtedly a hard hitter, Lyoto Machida had proven that superior hand speed and foot speed could overcome the Brazilian slugger’s power. It seemed like with Rashad’s lightning quick haymakers were tailor made for knocking out Thiago Silva again right? Instead, Rashad Evans outwrestled Silva for the decision and it was Silva who ended up scoring the only knockdown in the fight.

A bigger travesty, however, was at UFC 114 where Rashad Evans faced off against his hated rival Quinton Rampage Jackson. It was pegged as the biggest grudge match in all of MMA, two of the premier knockout artists in the UFC settling their score over blood.

Instead Dana White and fight fans everywhere blanched with horror as Rashad Evans, after scoring a knockdown in the initial round, was content to out wrestle and lay on top of Rampage Jackson as the arena booed their voice hoarse. Perhaps I’m being too harsh though; many fighters take the safe route. If wrestling opponents was considered “regressing”, then Chael Sonnen and Georges St. Pierre would have regressed so far they would practically be infants right now (P.S. they’re NOT).

So perhaps Rashad could be forgiven for “laming out” his opponents . . . if not for the circumstances out of his control.

In 2 years, the UFC 133 fight against Tito Ortiz will be his third fight . . . AFTER losing the title. You see, title holders fighting twice a year is somewhat common because promotions want to space out title fights and keep their champions well rested. Title contenders (especially those fighting in a crowded division) usually record at least 3 fights per year with some like Josh Koscheck recording up to 4 a year. For a fighter who is only showing himself twice a year, there’s no excuse for putting on such poor performances.

Before Tito Ortiz, Lyoto Machida backed out of a fight with Rashad Evans because Dana White wouldn’t pay him enough. Machida had just scored a highlight reel knockout of Randy Couture and Evans was in a “slump” so to speak, so fans were understandably perplexed and some think Machida simply played chicken. Well, I have a different take on what happened.

The fact is that Rashad Evans’s stock has dropped; he is a big name fighter who simply isn’t producing big fights. Lyoto Machida DOMINATED Evans in his last fight and he’s riding momentum, and he STILL didn’t want to fight him. You know why? Because it’s much more sensible and profitable to wait for one of the other light heavyweights to free up; beating Evans would have no real benefits while losing to him would crash his momentum.

See the problem here? His infrequent fighting, his new style, and his public and ugly feud with universally loved champion Jon Jones has made Evans almost unmarketable. For a man with historic knockouts, only one loss and a TUF win under his belt that’s quite an accomplishment.

At UFC 133, Rashad Evans needs to finish Tito Ortiz in SPECTACULAR fashion, or he will never be considered a legitimate contender or champion in the eyes of fight fans everywhere.

—