(It’s not that Rashad hasn’t been training — it’s that he’s only been training in the loosest, most Hawaiian sense of the word.)
Has Glover Teixeira become the most ducked fighter in the UFC? Mauricio “Shogun” Rua allegedly wanted nothing to do with him. Stephan Bonnar refused to fight him on the basis of twitter count. And now Rashad Evans has admitted to turning down a proposed match against the Brazilian light-heavyweight up-and-comer at UFC 153, due to the short-notice nature of the fight.
If you’ll recall, Teixeira was originally supposed to face Quinton Jackson at the October 13th event in Rio, before Rampage went down with an elbow injury. The UFC then asked Evans to come in as a replacement, but couldn’t make a deal with him. As Evans explained on the UFC on FUEL TV 5 post-fight show:
“They offered me a fight, but it was against Glover Teixeira and I only had three weeks to fight and I haven’t been training. I was like, ‘no way, not with that notice in Brazil.’”
Perhaps the fans weren’t as supportive of this choice as Rashad was expecting them to be, because he got on twitter yesterday to explain himself even further:
“I will fight anybody with the proper notice.. But after 8yrs with the UFC & being one of their top earners. Y would I take a bad fight?! … Bad fight meaning not being in shape. Losing is hard enough but I will never serve myself up! If I’m haven’t been training I won’t fight! … I know alot of u fans may not realize but I don’t walk around ready 2 fight. No one does. In this sport it takes at least 8wks 2 b ready! … Fighting another person is much harder than most ppl think & if im not training it takes time 2 get ready. There r no easy fights!”
In the immediate wake of Dana White publicly blasting Matt Mitrione for turning down an offer to fight Daniel Cormier, it’s worth asking, once again: Is turning down a high-profile fight due to lack of preparation time really a “smart personal career decision” when you know that it will draw the fury of your boss? In Rashad’s case, it’s completely understandable — if he’s not in shape, he shouldn’t take the fight, simple as that. But since Rashad has already spent time on the Dana White Shit List for choosing not to fight, it doesn’t bode well for his future treatment by the company.
Meanwhile, Glover Teixeira continues to be the lonely girl at the dance, waiting for someone to love him, waiting for someone to kiss him. Keep your chin up, bro. They just don’t see the beauty that’s inside you.