Clark Kent
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01-03-2010 01:27 AM:Before UFC 108, Rashad Evans talked about regaining control of his emotions in the cage. He did it on this night sticking to a gameplan that included closing space and scoring takedowns against Thiago Silva. Down 2-0, Silva finally broke through by landing a huge right with less than three minutes in the fight. The Brazilian poured it on, but in between landing more big shots, he danced and mocked Evans. He wasted just enough time to allow Evans to survive the round. The former "Ultimate Fighter" winner eeked out a unanimous decision victory, 29-28 on all cards.
"I didn't realize how hard it was until I tried to take a step back," Evans said to UFC color analyst Joe Rogan as the crowd booed. "I said 'where's my legs at?' I got a little bit lazy in the third and it almost cost me."
The final round was insane. Trailing 20-18 on the scorecards, Silva began mocking Evans' bobbing and weaving. On multiple occasions, he put his hands at his sides. He waved to the crowd for some noise. All of the hystrionics seemed to screw with Evans' rythym. He stopped moving forward. With 2:10 left in the fight, Silva faked a left jab and crushed Evans with a right hook. That's when Evans' legs went out. The Brazilian blasted with several more huge shots but couldn't floor his opponent. Then inexpicably, Silva started jerking around again. Evans recovered just enough to hold on over the final 90 seconds.
Evans kind of lost touch with wrestling over the last few years. He fell in love with boxing and counterpunching. Gone went his aggression and use of power. Tonight, the old Evans was back pressing the pace and muscling Thiago Silva over the first two rounds. It paid off with multiple takedowns including several big slams.
This was a serious trap fight for Evans, who was tentatively scheduled to fight former UFc light heavyweight champ Quinton Jackson at UFC 107. Jackson backed out of the fight to make a movie and Silva stepped-in. There wasn't much trash-talk before the fight and certainly not the heat there would've been going into a match against Jackson. Funny enough though, Silva pulled an Evans on Evans in that final round.
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Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
"I didn't realize how hard it was until I tried to take a step back," Evans said to UFC color analyst Joe Rogan as the crowd booed. "I said 'where's my legs at?' I got a little bit lazy in the third and it almost cost me."
The final round was insane. Trailing 20-18 on the scorecards, Silva began mocking Evans' bobbing and weaving. On multiple occasions, he put his hands at his sides. He waved to the crowd for some noise. All of the hystrionics seemed to screw with Evans' rythym. He stopped moving forward. With 2:10 left in the fight, Silva faked a left jab and crushed Evans with a right hook. That's when Evans' legs went out. The Brazilian blasted with several more huge shots but couldn't floor his opponent. Then inexpicably, Silva started jerking around again. Evans recovered just enough to hold on over the final 90 seconds.
Evans kind of lost touch with wrestling over the last few years. He fell in love with boxing and counterpunching. Gone went his aggression and use of power. Tonight, the old Evans was back pressing the pace and muscling Thiago Silva over the first two rounds. It paid off with multiple takedowns including several big slams.
This was a serious trap fight for Evans, who was tentatively scheduled to fight former UFc light heavyweight champ Quinton Jackson at UFC 107. Jackson backed out of the fight to make a movie and Silva stepped-in. There wasn't much trash-talk before the fight and certainly not the heat there would've been going into a match against Jackson. Funny enough though, Silva pulled an Evans on Evans in that final round.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
