UFC 114: Rashad Evans - “Looking for Gratification”

Rashad Evans to face Quinton "Rampage" Jackson with a UFC light heavyweight title shot on the line at UFC 114 on May 29

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Former champions Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be fighting for more than pride and bragging rights at UFC 114 on May 29 th. They’ll also be fighting for the next opportunity for the light-heavyweight belt against newly crowned champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. For Rashad, he seems to be enjoying all the lead-up to this particular main event bout, but, will he be all smiles after this match up against his heated rival?

After jumping into the MMA spotlight through The Ultimate Fighter season 2, Evans continued his rise through the organization with some highlight reel victories. He piled on several decision victories before earning a head kick KO victory at UFC Fight Night 8 against Sean Salmon, and then again at UFC 88 using his fists when knocking out longtime champ Chuck Liddell. Seven victories in eight UFC chances earned him his first title shot at UFC 92 against Forrest Griffin, which he took full advantage of by earning a 2 nd round TKO and capturing the 205-pound belt.

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However, as the saying goes, “you're only as good as your last fight” definitely applied after he dropped his first title defense at UFC 98 against Lyoto Machida. Many wanted to discount his winning streak and consider his title run a fluke, but, after earning a unanimous decision victory at UFC 108 over the “tough-as-nails” Thiago Silva, he was back at the top of the contender list.

Prior to his UFC 108 bout, Evans was a coach on The Ultimate Fighter season 10, against “Rampage.” Although the bad blood was already evident, it got much worse by the end of the season. The two were constantly in each other’s faces and making a solid marketing push for their upcoming post-TUF bout. The bout never happened. “Rampage,” instead chose to co-star in the upcoming silver screen version of the A-Team, where he played the role of B.A. Baracus.

Now that the bout is finally on, Evans will have to find a way to back all of his trash talk up. The first way that he may look to do that is by using his athleticism in the octagon. Evans will have to use his speed to stay out of Rampage’s reach and close-game. There is no way that Rashad will overpower ‘Page, so instead, he will have to use his strengths, and his number one strength is his athleticism.

This bout will favor Rampage as long as it is on the feet. Rampage is able to take Evans’ power and is stronger with his exchanges. Evans will instead have to put together some quick combos while staying a safe distance away. If he makes it a more technical fight, he should have a better chance to come away with a victory.

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Rashad may try and take this fight to the ground where he can use his world-class wrestling skills. The problem with that is that Rampage is also a skilled grappler and is able to do more than play defense from his back. Rashad will have to throw a variety of tricks while on top trying to confuse Rampage and hope to take advantage of his positions.

Anyway that you look at it, this fight will be competitive. It could go either way for either fighter. The former champ, who comes in more prepared for an all out battle, will be the one that comes out with his hand raised. In this case, it also gives the winner some long awaited gratification, and for Rashad, something tells me he expects to do just that.

> Don't miss our feature on Rashad Evans' UFC 114 opponent Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - “Don’t Call it a Comeback”

By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer