Rashad Evans Breaks Through Chuck Liddell

Many people, including myself, had doubted Rashad Evans’ chances in the fight against UFC superstar and former Light Heavyweight Champion, Chuck Liddel. But at UFC 88, Rashad Evans not only proved a lot of people wrong but also closed the case on a lot of critics by knocking out Chuck Liddell with a powerful right hand in what was an impressive highlight reel knockout in an exciting fight.

Right from the start of the match, Evans was not only show boating but also showing great prescence of mind and cage awareness by bobbing in to strike Liddell and moving out immediately. Every time Liddell tried to press Evans in to a compromising position, Evans would circle out and get a few nice strikes in as well. Many people thought Evans might try and take Liddell down, but credit to Evans and Greg Jackson for their gameplan, Evans used his speed to hit and move. The only time Evans got cornered towards the end of the first round, Evans showed that he had some really good striking by tagging Liddell with some nice right hand strikes. Every strike that landed increased Evans’ confidence in himself.

As the second round started, it was evident that Liddell was not able to get his game plan going against Evans’ excellent game plan. When the final seconds finally came, Liddell was going for an uppercut at the same time as Evans went for the overhand right (Liddell’s favorite strike) and caught him straight on the button/ on his chin and knocked Liddell out cold!

Evans shows with this victory that not only is he a legit threat in the 205 pound division, but he is ready for his shot at the title. Evans also silences critics who doubted his ablity when faced with a big name opponent, someone who was a proven top 10 fighter.

The way I see it, Evans should be next in line for the title fight. The only other contender at the same level is Lyoto Machida and although he has been really impressive in his victories, has not really had such a dominant performance against such a big name.

My feeling is that the next fights in the Light Heavyweight division would be
Rashad Evans vs Forrest Griffin and
Lyoto Machida vs the winner of a possible Rampage – Wanderlei or Rampage – Shogun fight.