So far, 2011 has been a tough year for the former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. With the news that Lyoto Machida will be getting the next title shot at Jon Jones at UFC 140, it just got worse.
Some would say that Rashad Evans has done this to himself with his desire to sit out last year and wait for his title shot instead of competing and staying active, but no matter your personal opinion on that matter, Rashad Evans does deserve the next shot at the title after Machida.
Rashad Evans brought an undefeated 13-0-1 professional record into his UFC 98 fight with Lyoto Machida. The UFC light heavyweight champion was riding one of the most impressive streaks we had ever seen in the sport, and it looked as if he had a good chance of being the Anderson Silva or Georges St-Pierre of his division, dominating it for years.
The whole fantasy came to a crashing halt, however, when Evans was violently knocked out by Machida in the second round of their fight, continuing his own undefeated record while ending Evans’ in the process.
At the time, it looked as if the destructive loss had the potential to be a career-halting defeat for a fighter. We’ve seen that kind of thing happen so many times in the past. A talented young fighter comes into some great success then suffers a humiliating loss that affects him for the rest of his career.
Rashad didn’t let that happen.
After coaching against Rampage Jackson on The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights, Evans would step back into the cage in January 2010 when he defeated one of the top up-and-coming light heavyweights in the sport, Thiago Silva.
The win was impressive, but it wasn’t until he finally got to fight Rampage Jackson at UFC 114 that we really got the feeling that the former champion was “back.” Evans dominated Jackson throughout most of the fight while also escaping a near knockout in the third round, but won his second-straight decision over a consensus top-10 opponent.
A victory over Rampage earned Evans the spot of No. 1 contender in the light heavyweight division for the second time in his career. He was ready to fight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but the champion suffered a knee injury in his victory over Machida. The knee injury required surgery and would keep him out of action until early 2011.
Rather than get back in the cage and fight again, Evans opted to hold out for Shogun to get healthy again. Unfortunately, Evans then suffered an injury of his own which knocked him out of their eventually-scheduled bout at UFC 128.
As we all know now, Jon Jones replaced Evans in that title fight and became the new champion while Evans found himself in a make-shift fight against Tito Ortiz. The victory over Ortiz had Evans penciled in again as the No. 1 contender, but an injured thumb has once again knocked him out of that position.
At this point, it’s difficult not to feel bad for “Suga,” as this long streak of bad luck just continues to haunt him. Still, even given the bad luck, injuries and questionable decision-making, it’s hard to argue that Rashad is still by far the best candidate to fight for the title next.
No matter who ends up leaving UFC 140 with the title, there is an interesting story for a fight with Evans. If Machida wins, a rematch with Evans only makes sense, this time with Machida defending and Evans challenging. But if Jones wins, the long-brewing feud between the former teammates could make for one of the most anticipated fights of 2012.
Either way, we win.
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