Has Rashad Evans lost his fire? Dana White thinks so
Last night, as we all know by now, former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Rashad Evans lost his fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. A bout he was heavily favored to win, the results shocked many MMA fans. There was talk of Evans dropping down to 185 to face current kingpin Anderson Silva, but the loss proves you just can’t overlook anyone in the UFC. Dana White had his own take on the situation at last night’s post-fight press conference:
“To be honest with you, Rashad and I have a good relationship. I like Rashad a lot. He’s a good guy, a smart guy. He has lost that hunger. He’s lost that desire and that drive and he needs to get it back, there’s no doubt about that.”
“Rashad used to train like a beast. Rashad never used to get tired. The only time you saw Rashad get tired was when he first came into the UFC and he fought Tito in that first fight. Then after that, he turned into an absolute beast. He’s got to get it back. Because I’ll tell you what, these [expletive] Brazilian guys are hungry.”
Some strong words from the always outspoken White, but it’s hard to argue with the man after watching last night’s uninspiring performance. Evans looked sluggish and inactive, something we just aren’t accustomed to him doing. He briefly mentioned retirement after losing to Jon Jones last April, and this raises a red flag for Dana White:
“There you go. If that word even comes out of your mouth in this business, it’s a negative. It’s bad. The fact that he even said the R-word, it shows you right there where his head is at and what he’s thinking.”
“Make a few million bucks, you guys have watched the shows. You see his [expletive] house? You see the cars he drives? You see all that stuff?”
So the President of the UFC thinks that Evans has indeed lost his desire to compete at the top level of MMA. It was an abysmal showing for his Blackzilians team last night, who could have made some strong statements with winning efforts. Will Evans ever return to his top form?
