Las Vegas Sun

Currently: 70° | Complete forecast |

UFC:

Light heavyweight champ enjoys a break

Evans says diet, time away from family are hardest part of sport

UFC 92

Justin M. Bowen

Rashad Evans raises his hand in victory after defeating Forrest Griffin to win the UFC’s light heavyweight title Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Underdogs Have Their Day

As the final, and biggest fight card of the year, UFC 92 featured the rise of the long shots as Quinton Jackson, Frank Mir and Rashad Evans handily beat the odds and their opponents Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Related Content

Rashad Evans might have made the most noise of his career when he defeated Forrest Griffin for the light heavyweight title in Las Vegas in December at UFC 92, but the reigning champ put on an equally entertaining show again at the MGM Grand the day before UFC 94.

Evans shared stories with UFC Fight Club members of his bout against Griffin, why he hates to diet and how he can tell whether he’s winning or losing a fight by his wife’s trademark screams.

The Niagara Falls, N.Y., native said he needed a longer break before defending the title to recharge his batteries. Understandable, considering a schedule that saw him fight the likes of three former light heavyweight champs -- Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell and Griffin, and top contender Michael Bisping, who at the time was unbeaten -- in a year and a half.

“Definitely need some time away,” Evans said. “The fighting is the easy part, going in there for 15 to 25 minutes. It’s all the training that goes into it, and all the other stuff, that makes it hard.

“To stay at the top you have to go out there and train with the best and put yourself in a position to progress your skills. The only way to do that is to go to other places, which takes time away from your family.”

Evans joked that at times though, having those you love within earshot can be a challenge in and of itself — especially if his wife, LaToya, gets going.

“I can always tell how I’m doing in a fight by the way she’s screaming. If she’s going off like a banshee: ‘Go baby, go baby, goooo!’ Evans said in a high-pitched tone, “that means I’m losing.”

Evans (13-0-1) said part of the reason he was able to take the championship away from Griffin was because of a different loud sound coming from the fans at UFC 92.

“He threw a punch, but I caught it. He thought he rocked me so he came right in rushing, and then unloaded a furry on me,” Evans said of his third-round comeback victory. “He kept kneeing me and kneeing me, but I blocked them. The crowd was just yelling for Forrest.

“It kind of made me mad. I was kind of insulted. I was like ‘You gonna finish me right here, right now? You think you’re gonna finish me?’”

But Evans said he had nothing but respect for Griffin, who much like himself is an alum of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

“I didn’t mean any disrespect of Forrest, I really like him. Sometimes a fight just becomes a fight and the crowd yelling, really got me going,” said Evans, who won by TKO.

Evans said he credits much of his career to the reality show on Spike TV.

“I definitely want to be a coach on it, because that show has done wonders for my career,” he said. “It pretty much made me who I am right now.”

The standout Michigan State wrestler said times have changed so much since Season No. 2 on “TUF” that he’s not sure if he would be able to make the current format.

“Right now I don’t know if I would have made it on the show. To make the show now you actually have to be better than early on because then a lot of people didn’t know about it,” Evans said.

“Right now everybody wants to be an MMA fighter. It’s like Texas Hold ‘Em a couple years back when it first came out — everybody wanted to be a poker player. Now everybody wants to be an MMA fighter. But poker is a lot easier.”

In addition to the time away from his family, Evans said the hardest part of being a fighter is sticking to a strict diet.

“I love McDonald’s,” Evans said with a big smile. “My diet ain’t always right, but I try. I’ve cut weight all my life in wrestling. When I have to start cutting weight, that’s when I’m not going to be able to compete anymore.

“I love salty foods and the sweets," he continued. "The sweets are so hard. I usually have one last cheap meal before my fight, like a week before my fight. Whatever it is, I’ll usually have something sweet. And it is delicious.”

But Evans made sure to tell his fans not to worry about him getting soft because of his cravings, or even big-headed because of the 205-pound belt.

"It’s easy to get caught up in the hollowness of fame. Once you start reading your own press clippings and start to believe that you are that good, it's over. But I'm just not that kind of person in general," said Evans, who was a former security guard for a hospital in Lansing, Mich.

"I don’t think it will be hard to stay grounded. My friends would let me know real quick if I got out of line."

Andy Samuelson can be reached at [email protected] or 702-948-7837.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy