MVN - Most Valuable Network

The Chance of a Lifetime

“Sugar” Rashad Evans has been announced as the replacement for “Shogun” Rua to face Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 to take place on June 7th in London, England. It will be the biggest fight in Evans career.

Originally slated for a May fight against Thiago Silva, Evans will now have a chance to make his biggest impact since coming into the UFC. Evans was introduced to UFC fans when he competed in The Ultimate Fighter 2. Despite being the smallest competitor in the heavyweight division, he fought his way to the finals where he beat Brad Imes by split decision.

Evans has never tasted defeat inside the Octagon. His lone non-victory came when he and Tito Ortiz fought to a draw last July. He followed that up with a split decision win over Michael Bisping in November.

Evans is a former Division I wrestler from Michigan State. He will still have a difficult time taking Liddell to the ground as Liddell’s takedown defense is as good as anyone’s in the sport. Evans stand-up game is improving but not quite to the level of someone like Liddell.

A victory would catapult Evans into top contender status while a loss really won’t do much in hurting his status in the Light-heavyweight division. Evans should look to be aggressive as he may never have a better no-lose situation handed to him.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 10:57 pm and is filed under Mauricio Rua, Chuck Liddell, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, Tito Ortiz, Pay-Per-View, Dana White, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.