It isn’t easy being Rashad Evans.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion, who is set to challenge Jon Jones at UFC 145, made a public appearance over the weekend and was signing autographs for fans in attendance.
However, one fan happened to offend Evans after asking him to sign a picture of his knockout loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.
“Suga” immediately turned down the young fan’s request as he crumpled the picture and threw it away. Despite being visibly upset with the gesture, Evans handled the incident professionally and still took a photos with others in line.
Evans is renowned as one of the sport’s most notorious trash-talkers, but he is also regarded as one of the most respectful fighters outside of the UFC. Evans showed a lot of class in handling the situation and came across as a likeable person, regardless of his persona inside the Octagon.
However Evans is perceived by fans or media, no fighter or professional athlete should be subjected to this form of treatment. Part of a fighter’s job is to do media appearances, while maintaining a professional and responsible image to fans, and Evans did not deserve to be disrespected in any way.
The UFC should look at this incident and hope to include more security or staff at these public events, or perhaps enforce stricter guidelines, to prohibit inappropriate behavior from fans.
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