That fighter is the former two-time All-State wrestler from New York, heavyweight winner of Season 2 of the Ultimate Fighter series, and former Light Heavyweight champion of the UFC. We are of course talking about one of the fighters we at Fan Fight are most fond of; "Suga" Rashad Evans.
Why are we so fond of Rashad? Well other than his bitchin' first name, we think he looks really snazzy in a suit.
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| Nice tie. Please don't hit me. |
That said as anyone who is anyone knows, there is some controversy that surrounds this fighter. His heart has been questioned, his chin has been questioned, his wrestling skills have been questioned, his striking has been questioned, his record has been questioned, and his ability to finish opponents has been questioned along with just about anything else the posters on Sherdog can think of.
In general what people want to know is this, is Rashad Evans a true contender? Is he championship material or is his stardom a fluke? We at Fan Fight will address each of the issues above, giving you our input on it and our conclusions to help make it clear once and for all whether Evans deserves to be in the title picture.
Suga's Heart: This is one you will probably hear a lot. And personally the only criticism of Evans that we hear more about at Fan Fight is his chin, which we will get into later on. But why exactly is Evan's heart questioned?
Has he never gone the distance? Nope. Evans has been the distance several times. Winning a fair number of fights by decision. Has he never faced a challenge? Again no, Evans has gone the distance with several fighters that had him on the ropes more than once before he managed to come back and steal the show.
Does he handle defeat poorly? Well, we've only seen Evans defeated one time in his career, and that was by textbook karate knockout from former Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. The result? He completely changed his game plan. He completely reworked his fighting style, and focused more on his wrestling base against "Rampage" Jackson and Thiago Silva in his next two fights.
This wasn't the first time he had done so, after going to a close draw with Tito Ortiz in 2007 and then a split-decision against Michael Bisping, Evans also decided it was time for a change. He had gone through too many split-decisions to want to do that again so he secretly changed over to a striking based fighting style, brutally knocking out Chuck Liddell in his next fight in what eventually became Knockout of the Year.
So no, he doesn't handle the mental game poorly. In fact he is enough of a tactician to learn from his defeats, near defeats, and controversial decisions to further improve his game plan.
Conclusion, Evans has plenty of heart. And he's not so prideful as to gloss over the weak points in his skills.
Suga's Chin: This is the one you will probably hear about the most. Why? Well a certain rotated still image of Rashad Evans getting knocked out by Machida has been making almost constant rounds around the Internet. I'll give you a small hint about which one...
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| I dunno, was this hint too obvious? |
First off let me add, that as much as we at Fan Fight like Rashad we gotta admit that picture is pretty comical. But then again, you should never judge a fighter by how they look when they are unconscious.
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| That floor sure looks comfy, don't it? |
But lets go ahead and take a look at this. The entire claim about Evan's having a weak chin is that he got knocked out by Lyoto Machida. Now let's be honest, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida is kind of really good at worming his way past defenses and knocking people out. Yeah, he's had more than his fair share of decisions, but you have to admit that when he knocks people out, he knocks people out.
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| Case in point. |
Another argument against Evan's ability to take a punch is that he got rocked a few times by Thiago Silva, and Rampage Jackson. But what's funny about both of those fights is that "Suga" Rashad Evans was able to recover, he got rocked but he went about pulling himself back together, and went on to win both fights.
Does Rashad Evans have a legendary chin? No, he isn't some Chris Leben who can take just about anything you throw at him. Does he have a bad chin? No, he can definitely hold his own as proven by his past experiences.
Conclusion, Evans has a decent chin. And its strong enough to let him compete with such heavy-hitters as Thiago Silva and Rampage Jackson.
Suga's Wrestling: Okay. This is one you don't often hear. But out of the few complaints about Rashad Evans that we at Fan Fight do hear, it is one that actually stands up to some mild scrutiny. Now at this point you are probably saying, "But Fan Fight! Rashad is a fantastic wrestler! Look at how he took down Rampage and Thiago with such ease! He was a two-time All State wrestler in the NCAA 1st Division in New York!"
We know all that. We also know that he is one of the few people to beat the legendary Greg Jones while wrestling.
That's not the issue. The issue at hand is whether or not Evan's name should be up there with the elite wrestlers of the UFC. And when I say wrestling elite I mean fighters like Mark Munoz, Phil Davis, Jon Jones, and Brock Lesnar. The criticism is that Evans is a very very good wrestler, but that he gets credited as a great wrestler. Especially by commentators who are trying to hype up a fight (i.e. Rogan and Goldman).
And it is one of the few criticisms we agree with. Evans IS a very good wrestler, but as his impressive but not legendary wrestling record of 48-34 shows he has a ways to go to earn credentials as a truly magnificent wrestling specimen.
Conclusion, Evan's is slightly overrated as a wrestler.
Suga's Striking: Do we really have to deal with this one? Seriously, we find this to be a rather ridiculous criticism. No, Evan's striking isn't as unorthodox or unique as Jon Jones or Lyoto Machida. Very few people can even come close to matching those two in striking. But Evans is a multi-dimensional striker, using both hands and feet; he is technical and works his way past defenses; and he does have knockout power.
In short, the improvement in his striking from starting out as a pure wrestler has been phenomenal. He is one of the most well-rounded strikers in the Light Heavyweight division.
Conclusion, Evan's can throw a punch. And a kick. And an elbow. And he can do it at the right time, and with enough force.
Suga's Record: This criticism says that Evans was spoon-fed the massive win-streak he held early in his career that eventually led to him becoming champion. The critics who spout this one apparently seem to think that Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, Stephen Bonnar, and Forrest Griffin are all walks in the park.
Well in case you didn't already realize it, allow us to be the first ones to tell you that those guys that Evan's defeated are some seriously tough dudes. And they make a living by being tougher, meaner, and badder than all the other world class talent that walks into the cage with them.
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| They also enjoy using those guys that get into the cage with them as target practice. |
And since you didn't know that those were some seriously tough dudes, we figure you are completely new to MMA and didn't know that the two fighters pictured above are Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell and "The Huntington Beach Badboy" Tito Ortiz both former dominant champions, both very good fighters in their prime. Rashad Evans beat both of them. And his knockout of Chuck Liddell earned Knockout of the Year.
In fact it was arguably Evans' knockout of Liddell that helped to retire the "Iceman", as it was the first time Liddell had been knocked out in the ring and the beginning of a three fight losing streak that would eventually end the career of the Hall of Famer.
And since losing the title to Lyoto Machida, Evans' has gone on to face and beat two more world-class fighters; Thiago Silva and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
Suga's Finishes: Okay so this one actually does make some sense. The criticism is that Rashad Evans doesn't like to finish opponents, and instead he grinds them down with take downs and submission attempts to take the decision. Which is exactly what he did against "Rampage" Jackson and against many other fighters earlier in his career.
So there is some truth in it. But let's be honest also, Evans doesn't do lay'n'pray. Yeah he takes guys down a lot, but he works them too. He is always trying something. Yes, he sets himself up to win the decisions, but he is also constantly looking for the finish.
Conclusion, some truth to it. But also some falsehood. We call this one a toss up.
Conclusions: The results to all this? Yeah, you guessed it. "Suga" Rashad Evans IS champion material and will likely be a fixture in the upper-echelons of the Light Heavyweight division for some time. This guy deserves to be in the title-picture despite what the naysayers would have you believe.
Our hats are off to you "Suga" Rashad, and we personally cannot wait to see you in action at UFC 133
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| Any questions? |
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