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Rashad Evans
Born Rashad Anton Evans on September 25th, 1979 in Niagara Falls, New York, he was one of eight children. Evans (nicknamed “Sugar”) attended Niagara-Wheatfield High School in Sanborn, New York, where he became a two-time All-State wrestler. He also played football, serving as both a running back and a safety. After graduation, Rashad Evans attended Niagara County Community College and continued his wrestling career. In 2000, he won the National Junior College championship. He would later transfer to Michigan State University and compete in the 174 pound category.
In 2003, Rashad Evans graduated from Michigan State with a degree in psychology. He began training in mixed martial arts following his graduation. According to Evans, “I love fighting so much, and I figured why take the chance of fighting in the streets when I can get paid to fight in the Octagon? Even though the street fights are a lot of fun, I put it behind me and started to train with a true purpose.” Prior to fighting, Evans worked as security guard in a Lansing, Michigan hospital. “Next to this job it was my favorite job,” said Evans. “You learn a lot about life working in a hospital. The lessons I learned in the hospital you can't learn many places.” In 2004, Evans competed in five professional MMA fights, all under the watchful eye of UFC legend Dan Severn. Evans went undefeated and was later selected to compete on the Spike TV series, The Ultimate Fighter 2. Since he was fighting as a heavyweight, Evans bulked up to 225 pounds, but he was still the shortest and lightest of the competitors in his weight class. In fight after fight, the smaller Rashad Evans was viewed as the underdog, but he continued to defy his critics and keep winning fights. He defeated Tom Murphy, Mike Whitehead, Keith Jardine and eventually found himself heading to the finals to take on 6’7” Brad Imes. While he was once again expected to lose to his much larger opponent, Evans pulled out the split decision victory and became the heavyweight winner for the show’s second season. He received a new car and a three-year, six-figure contract to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Prior to his official UFC debut, Evans made the decision to drop down in weight to compete in the light heavyweight division. The 205 limit was much closer to his normal body weight, and thus he felt that he would have a greater chance for success. His first UFC fight came on April 6th, 2006 against Sam Hoger, a semi-finalist from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. While he narrowly avoided a submission attempt by his opponent, Evans was still able to get a split decision win. His next fight was against another TUF alum, Stephan Bonnar. Evans used his wrestling skills to take his opponent down repeatedly and even slam him on several occasions. He would go on to capture a majority decision. Over the next five months, Evans fought twice and racked up a couple of knockout wins over Jason Lambert (UFC 63) and Sean Salmon (UFC Fight Night 8). As usual, Evans was considered the underdog going into both fights. Evans was next scheduled to take on Tito Ortiz at UFC 73. The two men fought to a draw, and Ortiz asked for a rematch after the fight. UFC president Dane White informed fans and the media that a rematch would happen “almost immediately.” But despite this claim, it was later announced that Evans would next be competing against fellow undefeated fighter and TUF 3 winner, Michael “The Count” Bisping. Perhaps for the first time in his MMA career, Evans was considered the favorite to win the bout. The two men met at UFC 78: Vindication and fought for the full 15-minute time limit. In the end, Rashad Evans would remain undefeated via a split decision. This improved his professional MMA record to 11 wins and 1 draw. After the fight against Tito Ortiz, Evans got married to a woman he had been dating for almost six years. As of this writing, they have no children. Evans lists the kimura and left hook as his favorite grappling and striking techniques, and he also considers his mother to be his hero. Evans has trained in Albuquerque, New Mexico with noted submission specialist Greg Jackson, working alongside fighters Keith Jardine, Diego Sanchez and Dan Christison. In 2005, he joined the staff of the Michigan State wrestling team as a volunteer assistant coach. See also:
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Rashad
Evans is a mixed martial artist from the United States who currently fights in
the UFC. A respected wrestler, the 5’11”, 205 pound Evans is best known for
winning the heavyweight portion of The Ultimate Fighter 2 competition.