(“Ay man, ain’t you that UFC fighter Rashard Lewis er somethin’? The name’s Johny, but m’friends call me Cooter. Wanna go out back and blow up some frogs?” / Photo via Getty)
Evans suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament earlier this year and had to undergo surgery to repair the damage. The normal turn around time for this time of injury is usually 10 months to a year.
Evans was progressing well in his recovery and rehabilitation, but a hard week of training to make the final push into a decision about accepting the fight or not didn’t go his way.
According to UFC Tonight reporter Ariel Helwani who spoke to Evans this week, his knee is still not 100-percent and coming back as early as January wouldn’t be prudent to his long term success.
(“Ay man, ain’t you that UFC fighter Rashard Lewis er somethin’? The name’s Johny, but m’friends call me Cooter. Wanna go out back and blow up some frogs?” / Photo via Getty)
Evans suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament earlier this year and had to undergo surgery to repair the damage. The normal turn around time for this time of injury is usually 10 months to a year.
Evans was progressing well in his recovery and rehabilitation, but a hard week of training to make the final push into a decision about accepting the fight or not didn’t go his way.
According to UFC Tonight reporter Ariel Helwani who spoke to Evans this week, his knee is still not 100-percent and coming back as early as January wouldn’t be prudent to his long term success.
Evans said his knee still felt unstable and he wasn’t able to explode like he normally would if his leg was completely healthy. With the minor setback, Evans is now anticipating a March return to the Octagon.
Alexander Gustafsson still hopes to fight in January or February, although his opponent is uncertain. One possibility being floated is Anthony Johnson, if he’s ever removed from the indefinite suspension that the UFC has him on related to recent allegations of domestic violence. According to Helwani, a decision on Johnson’s future should be made by UFC officials soon.
One thing has become such a certainty in mixed martial arts that it may as well be written into the laws of the sport: There’s never a guarantee you’ll see Rashad Evans compete when his name is linked to an opponent.
Perhaps the most underrated ch…
One thing has become such a certainty in mixed martial arts that it may as well be written into the laws of the sport: There’s never a guarantee you’ll see Rashad Evans compete when his name is linked to an opponent.
Perhaps the most underrated champion of the UFC’s boom period, Evans was one of the first men to make the jump from The Ultimate Fighter to genuine superstardom. He was a blend of elite athleticism, wrestling chops and steady stand-up improvements, and he eventually became a force to be reckoned with at light heavyweight.
Though he never successfully defended the title after winning it, he may be the best guy no one immediately brings up when talking about the greats of his generation.
Some of that is probably due to inactivity.
Since his 2008 title win, Evans has had delays of eight months or more between fights on four separate occasions. Two of those delays exceeded a year (one of which is still ongoing, unless he signs to fight and then competes within the next 12 days).
Next in line for Evans, should he stay healthy? Well, according to Mookie Alexander of Bloody Elbow, it’s going to be Alexander Gustafsson, the former top contender who was quite literally pushed aside a couple of months back despite the fact he wasn’t even there when the pushing started.
And if Evans can’t make that proposed date? Gustafsson should put up his feet back home in Sweden and wait to see where life takes him. Chances are it’ll take him right to a title shot.
January 3 will see Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier settle their beef, and the man who walks out of Las Vegas with the title that night won’t have a clear contender awaiting him. Light heavyweight has largely been wiped out by the iron-fisted rule of Jones, and only Gustafsson has ever looked good enough in losing to keep his name in title talks.
The proposed Evans bout is targeted for a couple of weeks after the Jones-Cormier duel, but if Evans succumbs to injury or other forces prevent him from stepping into the cage, all bets are immediately off for the rangy Swede. There isn’t another fight that makes sense for him, either as a title eliminator or a tuneup, and doing nothing becomes very much akin to doing something as a result.
That something is landing himself a title fight.
The only reason Gustafsson is considering another fight is because the UFC essentially told him to take one, according to Dave Doyle of MMAFighting.com. He doesn’t really need one to re-establish himself as a contender, and fighting Evans is as much about giving him a credible name he can probably beat in a time frame that would keep him in line to fight for the title afterward.
Remove Evans from the equation and the timeline remains the same, only Gustafsson doesn’t have to enter the cage to get his shot. With no other contenders nipping at his heels or trying to snatch his place in line, there’s almost no risk involved.
At this stage in his career, Gustafsson has to take a very specific type of fight. He should either be fighting for a title or fighting a guy who’s held a title while waiting to fight for a title. If he’s not doing either of those things, he should be waiting to do one of them.
Right now, based on circumstance and the nature of the division, only Jones, Cormier and Evans meet those criteria. Other guys just sort of exist around them.
Without Evans, only Jones and Cormier remain, and one of them will eliminate the other in January. Gustafsson‘s path will then be clear.
One way or another, his next fight will be a big one. Who he sees across the cage is the only question left, and that will likely be answered by the health of Evans in the coming weeks.
UFC 179: “Aldo vs. Mendes 2” proved to be exactly what we expected it to be, and that was a one-fight boxing card with a scintillating main event for the ages. The “greatest featherweight fight in history” was nothing short of amazing, with Jose Aldo defeating Chad Mendes for the second time after knocking out “Money” at UFC 142 almost three years ago. The battle was full of wild punches, eye pokes, a lot of heavy breathing, and at times, flying shit that didn’t land.
With a certain “joker” sitting cageside, let’s examine UFC 179, and why it was great and equally pathetic…
UFC 179: “Aldo vs. Mendes 2” proved to be exactly what we expected it to be, and that was a one-fight boxing card with a scintillating main event for the ages. The “greatest featherweight fight in history” was nothing short of amazing, with Jose Aldo defeating Chad Mendes for the second time after knocking out “Money” at UFC 142 almost three years ago. The battle was full of wild punches, eye pokes, a lot of heavy breathing, and at times, flying shit that didn’t land.
With a certain “joker” sitting cageside, let’s examine UFC 179, and why it was great and equally pathetic:
Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes Was The Business
Aldo’s presence alone is like waiting to unwrap that PS4 your significant other bought you for Christmas. You’ve got to wait a while for it to happen, but when it does, you can bet your ass it was worth it. “Scarface” was met with a lot of criticism before this fight, seeing how he didn’t really sell the contest, and truth to be told, he’s not really one to generate great interest in the media when he fights. Say what you will about his output winding down, since it’s almost as if his battle against Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169 never happened, yet he’s the UFC’s most dominant champion right now.
You’ve got your Jon Jones and your Cain Velasquez, however, keep in mind the gold has been around Aldo’s waist since 2009, stemming from his WEC years. Last night, he was dragged into a dogfight and he delivered, with the whole of Brazil on his back to preserve the country’s identity in the fight world, since he’s the only champion left from a place that dominated the MMA landscape for so long. He’s pretty great, too.
As for Mendes, he certainly rocked the champion on multiple occasions and did the most damage anyone has done to his main event foe. The Team Alpha Male product’s striking has gotten much better, and it’s really depressing to say this, but he really cemented his status as the division’s number two guy. When he dropped Aldo in the first round after connecting with clean shots, it summoned the spirit of T.J. Dillashaw, yet things didn’t really go the Californian’s way. When he was hit with two shots after the horn in round one, it’s tough to say how much damage was done, and if Aldo truly had any bad intentions since he claimed he didn’t hear the buzzer.
This fight reminded us why MMA is truly awesome, much like the Dillashaw upset, and when Lyoto Machida took Chris Weidman to the deep waters at UFC 175. This featherweight tussle holds the pole position for “Fight of The Year,” and we can’t help but get that fuzzy feeling inside just thinking about it. At the same time, it’s not like we don’t have to put up our fair share of bullshit just to get to the center of the Tootsie Roll.
As for Conor McGregor, you might think UFC really missed an opportunity to have him enter the cage and do the dirty work to sell a fight against a champion that doesn’t care much about that stuff. After all, both the winner and the loser called him out. But maybe UFC isn’t jumping the gun after all, now that the Irishman is tied up with Dennis Siver, and that if you really had to look at it from a fair standpoint, the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Cub Swanson deserves the next crack at the belt. It’s not really the wisest option, based on McGregor’s hype train riding from coast to coast across the globe, yet one has to think UFC wants us to believe Siver has a chance to win.
“A Light Heavyweight Matchup With True Title Implications”
UFC broadcaster supreme Mike Goldberg says a lot of drunk-white-girl things, but this takes the freaking cake. Once Phil Davis vs. Glover Teixeira concluded, he spat out this gem, which is borderline scary. Davis was coming off a crushing loss to Anthony Johnson at UFC 172, while “Bones” dominated Teixeira in a 205-pound title fight on the same exact card.
As for the fight, all you need to know is that the wrestler did what wrestlers do, neutralizing the power-puncher’s offense, and bringing him down to the mat over and over again. Maybe we should give a bit more credit to “Mr. Wonderful,” because it was arguably his best performance in the Octagon thus far. The Brazilian had trouble finding his range with Davis on his bicycle, and that’s pretty much how the three-round scrap went.
Look, the light heavyweight division is pretty bad these days, and if you want proof of that, just listen to the Penn State alumnus calling out Anderson Silva in his post-fight interview. With Anthony Johnson’s uncertain future, along with the plans to have Alexander Gustafsson fight Rashad Evans, Davis kind of is “in the mix.” One more win, and the guy is inching closer to a title shot, as odd as that sounds. The promotion will most likely book Davis to fight Ryan Bader next, because frankly, nothing else really makes much sense.
Main Card Woes And The Need For Change
Credit the fighters on the prelims for bringing it, since five out of six fights were over before the final horn. With that said, the three other main card contests almost put everyone to sleep, with takedown-heavy game plans and fighters that just don’t cut the mustard on the big stage.
Fabio Maldonado’s comeback win over Hans Stringer seemed like a shot in the dark, but more so for the event in general. It was like a Hail Mary thrown to save the interest of the main card, after witnessing Darren Elkins vs. Lucas Martins and Beneil Dariush vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira stink up the joint. Maybe every fighter deserves his or her chance to shine on the big stage, but we’re also in the entertainment business, or even better, the $50 to $60 price-tag business.
Before you accuse us of hating the UFC and being these snotty historians that wish it was 2006 all over again, please understand what is happening. More MMA isn’t a bad thing at all. Hell, I’d watch live MMA every night if I had to, or at least be content with the fact that it’s available in those circumstances. On the flip side, the quality just isn’t there anymore, and there’s a reason why you don’t want to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars against the New York Jets every single weekend. This card is a perfect example of what Dana White criticized for so long, and that’s a boxing event with one high-profile fight on it. The UFC needs to change its PPV and television model fast.
Nobody is forcing you to watch the prelims, or the fights outside the main and co-main events on the main card. We get that. Although how exactly is this sport supposed to grow, and shouldn’t we at least be concerned with the lack of thereof? You’ll have an event like UFC Fight Night 46, followed by UFC on FOX 12, and observers will come out in full force and trash the oversaturation bit. But in terms of consistency, UFC just doesn’t have it anymore. Injuries are one thing, but it can’t be the basis of an argument, either.
If a tree falls a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Maybe. If a main event is described as one of the best fights of the year, but only 200,000 people saw it because nobody really gave it the time of day, was it still as great as it was? Yes, but we’ll definitely need to put time aside to convince those that didn’t watch. One of the best fights of the year was on one of the worst PPV’s of the year, period. If you need to any further convincing, please refer to this.
At the end of the day, it’s no skin off our backs. That title fight was a prime example of why we need to put up with some dry stuff to have a good time. But UFC needs to think of something to get the casual fan’s interest back, because The Ultimate Fighter and celebrity tweets aren’t doing it anymore. If not, the “bubble” is going to get smaller and smaller, with limited selling points.
(“So Alex, how do you plan to face the unique strategic challenges that Rashad will pres…uh…dude, don’t freak, but there’s a big-ass ebola virus like 30 feet behind you.” / Photo via Getty)
As first reported by MMAMania, the UFC is working on a light heavyweight bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Rashad Evans, that would headline a FOX event in in Stockholm, Sweden, on January 24th, 2015. Mania credited the info to “a source with knowledge of the situation,” and the bout has not been officially confirmed yet.
Following his TKO of Jimi Manuwa in March, Gustafsson claimed that he wouldn’t take another fight until he got a rematch with Jon Jones, who had outpointed “The Mauler” during their title bout last September. A self-imposed hiatus is a high-risk strategy in the UFC, and we’re kind of glad to see him reconsider. As for Evans, the one-time UFC light-heavyweight champion is coming off back-to-back wins against Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen, but hasn’t competed at all in 2014 due to the knee injury he sustained in February.
Essentially, it’s a fight that would clinch another title shot for Gustafsson if he wins, but wouldn’t necessarily do the same thing for Evans. Your predictions, please.
(“So Alex, how do you plan to face the unique strategic challenges that Rashad will pres…uh…dude, don’t freak, but there’s a big-ass ebola virus like 30 feet behind you.” / Photo via Getty)
As first reported by MMAMania, the UFC is working on a light heavyweight bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Rashad Evans, that would headline a FOX event in in Stockholm, Sweden, on January 24th, 2015. Mania credited the info to “a source with knowledge of the situation,” and the bout has not been officially confirmed yet.
Following his TKO of Jimi Manuwa in March, Gustafsson claimed that he wouldn’t take another fight until he got a rematch with Jon Jones, who had outpointed “The Mauler” during their title bout last September. A self-imposed hiatus is a high-risk strategy in the UFC, and we’re kind of glad to see him reconsider. As for Evans, the one-time UFC light-heavyweight champion is coming off back-to-back wins against Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen, but hasn’t competed at all in 2014 due to the knee injury he sustained in February.
Essentially, it’s a fight that would clinch another title shot for Gustafsson if he wins, but wouldn’t necessarily do the same thing for Evans. Your predictions, please.
Former light heavyweight title contender Alexander Gustafsson has begun actively campaigning for a non-title fight with former champion Rashad Evans.
Speaking with MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, the Swede discussed his revolving door of potenti…
Former light heavyweight title contender Alexander Gustafsson has begun actively campaigning for a non-title fight with former champion Rashad Evans.
Speaking with MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, the Swede discussed his revolving door of potential opponents, saying, “Well, the [Anthony] Johnson fight didn’t go as planned. I really wanted that fight. Of course, I want that belt, that’s my goal, but I won’t stay and wait for that. I want to stay active, so I hope to get a fight before this year has ended or early next year.”
A fight between Gustafsson and surging striker Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was a done deal for UFC on Fox 13 according to UFC President Dana White, per Helwani. However, Johnson has found himself suspended indefinitely following allegations of domestic violence.
The initial fight with Johnson has a story of its own, too. Gustafsson initially planned to face light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in a rematch of their 2013 barnburner, but he was forced to withdraw from the fight due to injury and was replaced by Daniel Cormier.
With Jones and Johnson both off the table, Gustafsson apparently has his eyes set on Johnson’s teammate (and longtime Jones rival) Rashad Evans, saying he is “absolutely” interested in a fight with Evans when asked by European UFC commentator Andy Friedlander on Friday, per Helwani.
Evans is currently recovering from knee surgery that forced a late withdrawal from his UFC 170 fight opposite Daniel Cormier (he would infamously be replaced by Patrick Cummins). His recovery was expected to take six to eight months, which means a November or December return for Evans is realistic.
If Gustafsson is targeting a return to the cage later this year or in early 2015, he has numerous potential landing spots. Jones and Cormier will face off for the belt at UFC 182 on January 3, 2015. Having Gustafsson compete at the event would be a solid way to generate early exposure for a second Gustafsson title fight.
Keep an eye on Bleacher Report for more details on the fight should it come to pass.
Alexander Gustafsson has fanned the flames of a potential bout against Anthony Johnson in early 2015.Gustafsson was set to challenge Jon Jones for the light heavyweight belt, but an injury forced him out of the fight. Daniel Cormier stepped in to claim…
Alexander Gustafsson has fanned the flames of a potential bout against Anthony Johnson in early 2015.
Gustafsson was set to challenge Jon Jones for the light heavyweight belt, but an injury forced him out of the fight. Daniel Cormier stepped in to claim his spot, and Cormier will meet Jones at UFC 181 for the gold.
It would seem to make sense as a co-main event to the UFC 181 pay-per-view, as the two winners of the bouts would be set up for a title match later in 2015, but there is no current indication of when, or if, this bout will take place.
Gustafsson is the No. 1-ranked contender in the division. The 16-2 fighter is 8-2 under the UFC banner. His lone loss in the past four years has been to Jones by a contentious decision. He was the first fighter to put Jones in trouble.
Johnson was a former welterweight in the UFC, but multiple weight issues led to him being let go following a loss to Vitor Belfort in 2012. He began to make waves outside the UFC by going 6-0 in fights in both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.
The American returned to the UFC in April with a dominant victory over top-five ranked Phil Davis. Now, Johnson finds himself as the No. 5-ranked contender to the light heavyweight title.
Gustafsson and Johnson want this fight, and it makes the most sense in the division. Bleacher Report will keep you up to date when the UFC moves forward with making this fight official for early 2015.
One thing has become such a certainty in mixed martial arts that it may as well be written into the laws of the sport: There’s never a guarantee you’ll see 
