Peak Rashad?
After the Machida fight, Evans took some time off to recover and found himself back on TUF, this time as a coach opposite now-bitter rival Quinton Jackson. It was expected that the two would fight at the conclusion of the season, and boy did the show build the feud well.
In my opinion, it was probably the best coaching feud in TUF history, even eclipsing Ortiz vs. Shamrock a few years beforehand.
The show ended in December 2009 but it would be some time before Rashad and Rampage would face off. Rampage went into a pseudo-retirement after filming The A-Team, leaving Rashad to fight Brazilian brawler Thiago Silva in the main event of UFC 108.
Rashad won a clear-cut decision, bringing back his wrestling game to go along with the striking chops he’d learned over the years following TUF. The Rampage fight was set up for May 2010’s UFC 114 and again, it was Rashad who came away with his hand raised, a huge right hand that almost took Rampage off his feet in the opening seconds setting the tone for the fight.
It was at this point that Rashad started taking a lot of criticism from the fans.
Similarly to his teammate at Greg Jackson’s, Georges St-Pierre, people began to claim Rashad was “fighting safe” by using his grappling more than his striking following the Machida loss.
To me this was nonsense – Rashad was fighting smart. He was using the speed and explosiveness he’d always had to not only set up his striking but in turn to use his striking to set up an always-excellent grappling game.
It could be said that 2010-11 was Rashad Evans’s peak.
The win over Rampage secured Rashad another title shot, but then things went a little awry. New champ Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua – who had beaten Machida – was forced out until 2011 with injuries. He was finally matched with Rashad in March at UFC 128, but then it was Rashad who had to withdraw with a knee injury.
It was the first time Rashad had ever pulled out of a UFC fight and it would prove to be fateful, as Rashad’s then-friend and training partner Jon Jones stepped in, smashed Rua to pieces and took the belt for himself.
Almost immediately, Rashad’s world turned upside down.
Promised a shot at Jones, Rashad ended up leaving his longtime camp at Greg Jackson’s due to the feeling that his trainer was now favouring the younger Champion. He formed his own team – eventually known as the Blackzilians – and an angrier Evans emerged at UFC 133 to fight old rival Tito Ortiz, stepping in at late notice when first Jones and then Phil Davis were unable to compete.
Evans looked leaner and meaner than ever, and this time Ortiz was no match for him. Rashad dispatched him in the second round following a vicious knee to the body. It was as if the skills he’d learned at Jackson’s were now being harnessed into a more violent style of fighting following his training with the likes of Tyrone Spong.
Again the Jones match was set up but again it was not to be, as a thumb injury briefly sidelined him. When he returned, he was faced with Davis – the best wrestler in the division on paper, an NCAA Division I champion. Rashad thoroughly outgrappled him for five rounds.
The injuries that had sidelined him didn’t seem to matter at all. He was on a collision course with Jones.
If MMA were a movie, then at UFC 145, Rashad would’ve overcome his younger rival to complete a storybook ending. It’s not Hollywood though and so it was Jones who came away with his hand raised following a tough but clear decision win.
For Rashad, it was back to the drawing board.
