In a night with a fully loaded fight card including the successful revenge of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson over one of his most toughest rivals, Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, and a remarkable performance by Frank Mir to obtain the interim heavyweight title from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira subsequent to the main event, Griffin vs. Evans didn’t disappoint at UFC 92 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Sugar” Rashad Evans claimed the UFC Light Heavyweight Title Saturday night, becoming victorious after defeating Forrest Griffin. Evans improved his record to an outstanding 18-0-1 after the win.
The fight started off fairly meticulous, with both fighters sizing up one another. Griffin would occasionally cast his notorious leg-kicks, and he would connect very well on most. However, Rashad swapped stances throughout the fight to allow the blows do be balanced between both legs, instead of taking the shots to just his left.
This was a very intelligent strategy, considering how vicious Griffin’s kicks were to Quinton Jackson’s left leg and knee when he was defeated by Griffin by unanimous decision at UFC 86.
The fight would go through one round with the fighters still sizing up one another, and Griffin would continue his kicks and perceivably win the first round. However, Evans is known to take the first round completely off and almost give it away. It was basically a freebie for Forrest Griffin. This is exactly what Evans had done at UFC 88 against Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell.
But as the second round heated up, Griffin would continue his routine and Evans looked to have lost the round. Some combinations had been exchanged, and the round seemed a lot closer with Evans gaining some confidence, but Griffin was very precise with his kicks and his striking.
The fight would go into the third round, and more striking combinations were thrown by both fighters. About a minute through the third round, Evans caught a kick and threw a round of punches that sent Griffin to the mat. A flurry of punches would follow, and the fight appeared that it would be called at any second. Griffin would recover; however, and defend himself quite nicely. At one point, it seemed as though Griffin could catch Evans and put him in a triangle choke, but this would only open Evans up to more striking.
He landed a few solid punches to the side of the head, which forced Griffin’s head to slap the canvas, and he would follow with a number of blows to the chin until referee Herb Dean called the fight at 2:46 in the third.
“I knew I had him in trouble,” Evans would eventually say after the impressive championship victory. That was pretty much all he could say. Evans was very humble in his win, and simply took it all in.
He has now built a reputation throughout the MMA world. With his quick hands, exceptional power and smooth technique, “Sugar” Rashad Evans has climbed to the top of the mountain in, arguably, the most stacked weight division in the UFC; all while sustaining an 18 win record with no blemishes.
This weight class is also known for titleholders to have fairly short stints, mostly because of the vast amounts of competition for fighters in this division every time they step into the octagon. Evans has held up thus far, defeating some well-known competition prior to the title match Saturday night. He seems built for a long run as champion, and a long line of talented fighters are waiting for a shot. Evans is more than up to the challenge, and his confidence is likely through the roof. His most recent fights have all been impressive wins over highly regarded fighters on big stages.
A title defense against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson seems imminent; but for now, Rashad Evans is taking it all in, savoring a taste of victory as sweet as sugar.
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