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UFC 114: Rashad Leaves Fans Needing a Snuggie

In the UFC Primetime show leading up to the fight last night, we saw Rashad Evans send Quinton Jackson a "Snuggie" brand blanket for when he was put to sleep via KO. Unfortunately it was those in attendance and watching on PPV that could have used a lil cat-nap during the main event of the evening.

Rashad used Couture-esque clinching against the cage to lean and takedown his way to a decision victory. Aside from a solid punch from Rashad in the opening stanza, there was not much action coming from his direction. He dictated the pace and location of the fight and definitely won on points, but lost in the eyes of a lot of fans.

Rampage was clearly affected by the long layoff and cutting the weight he did to get back into fighting shape for his return to the Octagon. There was a glimmer of hope for a KO in the final round as Quinton rocked Evans with a solid punch, but was unable to finish Rashad. Evans was able to keep his cool and land a takedown to save himself from a more serious concussive power.

A serious KO loss can change a fighter after such an experience by making them tentative and afraid to engage. In the case of Rashad Evans it is not so much that he is afraid to engage, but more so that the Machida KO knocked his mindset back to his Michigan State wrestling roots. Evans had gotten to be a decent striker as his progression from wrestler to MMA fighter blossomed, its just too bad that these two couldn't have met up pre-Lyoto beatdown so that this would have been an entertaining scuffle.

The full results from UFC 114 are below:

MAIN CARD
Rashad Evans def. Quinton Jackson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Michael Bisping def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Mike Russow def. Todd Duffee via knockout (punch) - Round 3, 2:35
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Jason Brilz via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
John Hathaway def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Dong Hyun Kim def. Amir Sadollah via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Efrain Escudero def. Dan Lauzon via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Melvin Guillard def. Waylon Lowe via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:28
Cyrille Diabate def. Luiz Cane via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:13
Aaron Riley def. Joe Brammer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Jensen def. Jesse Forbes via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:06

Which Rampage Will Show Up Versus Evans?

An 18 month layoff is a long one no matter how you slice it and Quinton Jackson has to come back from that to face the former Light-Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. As I see it Rampage takes this fight more than he doesn't. Having said that I have to question a couple of things after watching the "Primetime" series leading up to the meeting of the former Champions. First, who is Page sparring with at Wolfslair that can be anything like the physical athlete that Rashad is? Secondly, how much of an effect will the long layoff and scuffles with the UFC brass have on Page and his mindset?

In the UFC primetime show we saw Quinton's frustration with his sparring partners and how they could do nothing to push the fighter in training. Absolutely no disrespect to Wolfslair as they do have a great cast of up and comers as well as a few established stars like Bisping to their credit, but what heavyweights or light heavyweights do they have to prepare Jackson? I would be surprised if anyone but maybe Bisping has given him a run for his money in sparring, and that may be a stretch. Juanito Ibarra for all his flaws at least had Page's boxing game in tip top form and had him surrounded by name fighters in Big Bear, CA. Furthermore going up against Rashad Evans, Rampage finds himself up against one of the best wrestlers in the game right now and Page is training in the UK where they are notoriously behind the times in terms of their wrestling.

Page has recently re-expressed his dissatisfaction with the UFC and even said that he is no longer "proud" to be called a UFC fighter. He also voiced the fact that yes he did re-sign with them, bit they have already come back and disrespected him (see video above via fighters only mag). That kind of turbulence with his employer may have had some effect on his mentality coming into the fight especially coming in off of a long layoff from the fight game while he parlayed his acting skills in the new A-Team movie.

All in all this article will probably be for naught as Page has come out on top in the game more often than not, and I see the Rashad fight no differently. As you can probably tell I am a big Rampage fan and have been for a long time, so my impartiality is skewed when discussing any fight that Quinton is in. Aside from the fan-boy in me that owns a round 5 figurine of Page and still reminisces about the monster slams in his Pride days, looking on the fight from the outside I see Quinton's skill set and heart to be too much for Evans. For someone who was rocked by Thiago Silva and rode out a boring decision win, Quinton would have knocked Shad "clean-out" as Jackson would say.

"Rampage" and Rashad Finally Make it Official

The UFC today announced that they will indeed have Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans face off at UFC 114 on May 9th in Las Vegas. The heated rivalry will headline the card that is also rumoured to have another Light-heavyweight showdown between Forrest Griffin and  Antonio Rogerio Nogeuira. Jackson and Evans, as you all know, have had a healthy disrespect and hatred for one another ever since there meeting after Rampage's win over teammate Keith Jardine.

Evans Tops Silva in Main Event at UFC 108

(The Full Results are Below)

Rashad Evans rebounded from his loss to Light-heavyweight top dog Lyoto Machida with a unanimous decision win against the tough Thiago Silva in the main event of UFC 108.  Rashad probably didn't win over many new fans with his performance as he went back to his bread and butter and wrestled his way to a decision win. Evans was able to score repeatedly with take downs not allowing Thiago to mount much significant offense. Silva was able to win the show-boating contest as he tried to goad Rashad into slugging it out with him and it almost paid dividends in the final stanza. In the latter part of round three Silva landed a hard punch that wobbled the former champ, but he was able to clinch and gather his wits to get the UD win.
MAIN CARD RESULTS
Rashad Evans def. Thiago Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Paul Daley def. Dustin Hazelett via KO (punch) - Round 1, 2:24
Sam Stout def. Joe Lauzon via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Jim Miller def. Duane "Bang" Ludwig via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 2:31
Junior Dos Santos def. Gilbert Yvel via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:07
PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
Martin Kampmann def. Jacob Volkmann via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 4:03
Cole Miller def. Dan Lauzon via submission (kimura from inverted triangle) - Round 1, 3:05
Mark Munoz def. Ryan Jensen via submission (punches) - Round 1, 2:30
Jake Ellenberger def. Mike Pyle via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 0:22
Rafaello Oliveira def. John Gunderson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)