The Other Side: Rashad Evans on UFC 92 Bout with Forrest Griffin
Last week, reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin gave his thoughts on his upcoming match with TUF 2 winner Rashad Evans. Now it is time to hear the other side, as Evans sat down with UFC.com for a video interview concerning his first shot at UFC gold.
Commenting on what he saw when he looked at Forrest Griffin, Evans was respectful of his opponent’s skills. “Watching his fight with Rampage, I noticed Forrest is very busy. He stays busy and he has no problem just going at it. He takes a big shot and just keeps going, you know. He’s like Buddy Lee from the Levi’s commercial. He’s tough, man.”
Although he has obvious respect for the current champion’s “toughness”, he did not seem overly concerned with the match-up itself. “The way I see us matching up, I think he’s definitely going to have problems with me. I’m not the fighter who’s going to stand right in front of him like Rampage. And I’m not going to be anything like how Shogun fought as well, so, styles make fights; we’ll see if he can handle my style.”
The bold words might seem brash to some, but considering Evans’s one-sided knockout of Chuck Liddell in September at UFC 88, perhaps it is Griffin who should heed the warning. While Evans has looked sluggish in some of his earlier wins in the UFC, and even his 2007 split decision win over Brit Michael Bisping, the Spartan wrestler has shown increasing flashes of athleticism, speed, and, most importantly, devastating power.
On the other hand, although Evans is certainly an eminent threat to Griffin’s new crown, the undefeated light heavyweight could be underestimating the versatility of the current champ. “He does kick well to the leg, but I’m not really worried about it. It never really hurts me to get kicked in the leg. Hopefully I’ll just keep moving around enough and check those kicks when they come in. If he catches me then I’ll make him pay.”
The challenger would do well to remind himself that Griffin offers much more than a one-dimensional arsenal of stinging leg kicks. In fact, the leg kicks are usually used to set up crisp punching combinations that can last a lot longer than the target might think possible, as Griffin surges forward with an onslaught of punches and kicks from a wide array of angles.
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Discussing the possibilities of how the fight was going to play out, Evans was noncommittal in his response. “I got a knockout from a head kick. I got a knockout from an overhand [right]. Now I’m looking for a submission so I can have all of them. On December 27th you are going to see me go out there and put it on Forrest Griffin. I don’t know how the fight’s going to go; I don’t know if I’m going to knock him out, I don’t know if it’s going to be a decision, but I’m going to go out there and lay it down.”
While confidence, even over-confidence, can be a dangerous trait to own, it can also be just as great—if not greater—danger to the object of that bravado. Regardless of who comes out on top in UFC 92 on December 27th in Las Vegas, Nevada, rest assured this is going to be a back and forth affair reminiscent of Griffin’s July war with former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. With an opponent as technically savvy as Evans up next, however, Griffin is going to have to rely on a lot more than his aforementioned toughness to be the first to expose a weakness in the armor of the undefeated Evans.
“I don’t want to say I’m going to go out there and mangle him; I’m just going to let it happen.”
With that last statement made by Evans, look for this one to resemble a true grudge match, albeit without the overblown trash talk, come fight night.
> Also see: Forrest Griffin discusses his UFC 92 bout with Rashad Evans
By Steven T. Kelliher
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer