Rashad Evans credits Rampage for helping him cope with loss
Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans clearly had his issues with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson during their season together taping “The…
Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans clearly had his issues with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson during their season together taping “The Ultimate Fighter.” But surprisingly, Evans says that the time they spent bickering was actually beneficial to him — at least about one thing.??
That’s right, Evans said during a Wednesday press conference at the MGM Grand that Rampage’s propensity to pop off about Evans’ highlight reel knockout loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98 helped him get past the defeat.
“That was probably the most healing part to let me get over it,” Evans said while talking to the media about his upcoming UFC 108 bout with Thiago Silva. “When you have someone constantly saying, ‘You got knocked out,’ and talking about ‘the stanky leg,’ and all that stuff, you’ve got to laugh about the the situation. You get to laugh at yourself. He was very serious, but if someone makes light of it, and looks at it in a way different than you do, it helps you get over it.”??Perhaps not surprisingly, Evans spent quite a bit of time answering media questions about Jackson rather than Silva.??
Earlier during the afternoon, UFC President Dana White told reporters that Evans (13-1-1) likely wouldn’t get a crack at Jackson unless he defeated Silva on Saturday. Jackson — who took a leave of absence to film a role in “The A-Team” movie, much to the UFC’s chagrin — recently said he’d come back to the company to fight Evans.
??Even if White is serious about his stance on the fight — and it seems crazy to think he’d really throw away a bout the company spent months building on TUF — Evans said he has no reservations about risking it to face Silva.
