It wasn't too long ago that Rashad Evans was known as one of the UFC's preeminent trash-talkers. Coming up through the ranks after his stint in "The Ultimate Fighter 2", there were few fighters that could elicit a crowd reaction quite like "Suga".
But somehow that title was unexpectedly usurped the moment Chael Sonnen stepped into the UFC limelight, and it doesn't appear to be coming back anytime soon with the middleweight's anti-Anderson Silva crusade at full bore. Needless to say, Evans knows when he's beat.
The former light heavyweight champion fielded questions from the Birmingham fans (alongside UFC ring announcer Mike Goldberg) at UFC 138's pre-weigh-in Q&A session and was extremely forthright when asked who was the better trash-talker, Sonnen or himself.
Evans: I gotta say Chael Sonnen. You see, Chael adds another element than I do. Chael adds like a WWE-type -- see if I did that I would feel corny. Like if I started going too WWE, I would feel corny. Besides, then everybody would really really hate me. See, he can get away with it, but I can't. If I did the same thing that he did, oh my god, I'd be having people trying to blow up my house or something.
...
Goldberg: Chael could trash-talk in a fifth grade class.
Evans: But I don't think he was always like that. He just kind of picked it up... He just kind of said 'I'm going to open my mouth and start talking'. And it's definitely worked.
Evans was also questioned a fair bit about his friend-turned-rival Jon Jones. When asked how the light heavyweight champion would fair against pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva, Evans was blunt, stating the Brazilian would catch Jones "doing something crazy." (Transcription via MMA Mania)
"Honestly, I think... I would say Anderson would win. I think he would catch Jon standing up because I think Jon does a lot of crazy stuff but, fundamentally, sometimes he does it just to do it. But I think Anderson has a reason, like Anderson, fundamentally and technically, is better in that respect and I think he would catch (Jones) doing something stupid. If the fight was to go a little bit longer and Jon used his wrestling then I think the fight may go to Jon. But for the most part, early on in the fight, Anderson would catch Jon trying to do something crazy."
Loading comments...