UFC 145: The Defining Moments of Rashad Evans

The UFC career of Rashad Evans has been fascinating. People seem to hate him for his swagger, but he’s endured some of the craziest ups and downs in MMA history and has made up for any times he hasn’t entertained in the cage by being a remarkable sociological study outside of it.

An Ultimate Fighter winner, a former champion, a man who never defended his gold and a guy who has feuded with some of the biggest high-profile names in the sport, he relishes the role of the heel. He’s underrated and under-appreciated, and MMA wouldn’t be the same without him.

These are the moments that have defined his UFC career.

The Ultimate Fighter 2

When he was a nobody, Evans carried himself like a man who already had titles on his mantle. That might be due to his elite status wrestling for Michigan State, or it might be because that’s who he is and he didn't feel the need to change it for the sake of a reality show.

Either way, TUF 2 coach and proven veteran Matt Hughes didn’t care for Suga’s showboating and swagger, and he didn’t mind telling him. It all came to a head when Hughes had to corner Evans in a tournament fight, and he actually did a good job.

The two co-existed while they had to, but there was hardly anything warm or fuzzy about it afterwards and even today. The feud was the first time people saw Evans as a guy willing to do things his way, and it was something not everyone took to.

Regardless of what Hughes or anyone else thought, Evans went on to topple the gigantic Brad Imes in the TUF 2 finale. He showed incredible heart in the win, slugging it out with his brutish opponent despite being a natural 205er and being completely exhausted.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was a barnburner, and it gave Evans the UFC contract he coveted so greatly.

First Notable Win (vs. Stephan Bonnar)

In his first big test—and in 2006, people definitely listed it as a big test—the undefeated Evans toppled TUF finalist and notoriously tough out Stephan Bonnar. Bonnar, blessed with good standup and insane durability, served as the third UFC win for Evans and pushed him to 8-0 on his career.

Off of that success, he’d go on to make a pay-per-view appearance at UFC 63 next time out, and within a year he was holding his own in the cage with the legendary Tito Ortiz.

UFC 88: Breakthrough

Perhaps the most aptly titled event in UFC history, UFC 88: Breakthrough, pit Evans against legendary former champion Chuck Liddell. Evans was 11-0-1 and fresh off a win over a rising Michael Bisping, a draw with Ortiz and the greatest highlight of his career to that point in a KO of Sean Salmon.

People thought he was a dead man going against Liddell, though. He wasn’t.

In an utterly shocking turn of events, a frenzied exchange of hands saw Evans land a scorching overhand right that planted Liddell firmly on the canvas and left him there for several minutes.

The punch, coupled with a left hand that was thrown but never needed as it sailed by a crumpling Liddell, showed the world that Evans was no longer just a wrestler, but that he had dynamite in his hands and grossly improved technical striking.

Suddenly, there was a new, very credible threat to the title at light heavyweight.

KOs Forrest Griffin for Light Heavyweight Gold

Continuing his war path to the title, Evans used his win over Liddell to springboard himself to a December 2008 title shot against Forrest Griffin. It was a matchup of the first two TUF winners, and it also served as the main event of a card that also included Mir-Nogueira and a third meeting between Wanderlei Silva and Rampage Jackson.

The two engaged at the center of the cage and Evans again got the better of his opponent on the feet, dropping Griffin and pouncing from a standing position in a lazily maintained guard. Griffin, grinning but badly hurt, was finally saved as he semi-tapped to Evans, bouncing his head off the canvas with finishing strikes.

Rashad Evans was the light heavyweight champion.

Loses Title to Machida in First Career Setback

At an impressive 13-0-1, Evans took to the Octagon for his first title defense in May 2009. He was to meet Lyoto Machida, a fellow undefeated combatant who no one had come close to figuring out over the course of his 15 career contests.

Evans was no different, attempting to stalk to karateka with his conventional boxing and offering absolutely no difficulty for the unorthodox Brazilian. He bounced in and out with stiff punches and lashing kicks, pounding the champion effortlessly and getting out before he absorbed any damage.

Eventually, Machida backed Evans to the cage and began to unload, and the best Suga could offer in defense was some ill-advised trash talk. With his mouth open and gums flapping at his challenger, he was starched repeatedly on the button before finally collapsing—finally silent—on the Octagon floor.

It was his first time attempting to defend gold, first loss, first time KO’d, and he wasn’t even competitive.

Bests Rival Rampage Jackson; Earns Title Shot

After a lengthy back and forth, including time spent as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, the heated rivalry between Evans and Rampage Jackson came to a head. The flames weren’t burning as hot after Jackson bailed on the initial booking to star in The A-Team, but there was plenty of tension when they finally locked horns at UFC 114.

It started well for Evans, who stumbled his nemesis with a right hand early, and he rode that momentum to a decision win and the right to meet freshly-minted champion Mauricio Rua.

Waits for Shot at Shogun Rua; Suffers Injury in Training

Despite a title shot being targeted for late 2010, Rua was forced into a lengthy hiatus due to a knee injury. Evans, sitting as the top contender, elected to wait for his shot.

Unfortunately, the Rua-Evans saga would be drawn out for the rest of the year and beyond, as the two men alternated injuries. With a booking targeted for UFC 128 in March 2011, Evans fell out of the fight with a knee injury of his own. The champion was without a challenger and the main event was up in the air only six weeks out.

It would mark the closest Evans, then sitting at 15-1-1, would get to his promised title shot for almost two full years.

Watches Jon Jones Take Gold; New Feud Begins

Sitting cageside instead of occupying the blue corner as challenger, Evans watched 205-pound prodigy Jon Jones utterly demolish Rua to become the light heavyweight champion. The two had been closer, self-professed friends and brothers in arms coming from within the walls of Jackson’s MMA.

The fight game, however, had come between them once Jones stated he’d fight Evans if Dana White said he had to, and Evans was slighted. As they say, it was “on.”

What followed was Evans leaving Jackson’s team and going on a year-long campaign of finger pointing and campaigning against his former coaches, team and Jones himself.

Along the way, he demolished Tito Ortiz and easily outdid Phil Davis while Jones defended his gold against Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida. The entire time the men exchanged barbs in the media and remained on an obvious collision course.

They were finally booked to meet on April 21, 2012.

UFC 145

Eight years in the sport, seven in the UFC, with a truckload of big fights and important moments, and it all comes down to a Saturday night in Atlanta, Georgia.

Evans has spent the past year of his life parading through the media and calling out the champion, a man he once loved and fought beside. He’s got a new team and a new mentality, and he's currently riding a four-fight win streak.

While there have been plenty of hurdles on the way to making it happen, Jon Jones is the fight that will define Rashad Evans. He’ll either go down as the first man to truly defeat a seemingly unstoppable phenom, or he’ll be known as a man who took perceived betrayal to new heights but couldn’t cash the proverbial cheque in the Octagon.

May the best man win.