While Rashad Evans is widely regarded as one of the top competitors at 205 pounds, fellow light heavyweight contender Phil Davis begs to differ.
The two light heavyweight competitors are set to meet in the main event on UFC on FOX 2 on January 28, where the winner is likely slated to meet UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones later next year.
While conducting an interview with Lowkick.com, Davis spoke about his upcoming bout with Evans—who despite holding a lot of skills and experience in his arsenal, the 26-year-old Davis think Evans is still the same guy.
“I think he’s the same old Rashad—which is very dangerous, very skilled and I think he’s definitely gotten better over the years, but I think he’s the same old guy,” Davis said.
Evans has recently developed a more sound, technical offense by implementing his strikes with his wrestling, as opposed to preferring to stand and trade with his opponents. The latter didn’t always prove to be successful for “Suga,” who suffered his first knockout loss to former UFC light heavyweight champion, Lyoto Machida.
Davis is also a efficient grappler, holding tremendous strength and ability in wrestling his opponents down to the canvas. He said it is one of the most successful areas in his overall game, and he plans to utilize it more against Evans.
Unlike Evans, it is one aspect Davis doesn’t see himself abandoning throughout his career.
“There’s no point in my career where I plan on abandoning wrestling. It’s always a part of my game plan,” he said. “That’s something I’m going to go into every fight making my opponent respect.”
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