UFC 108 Results: Rashad Evans Survives Against Thiago Silva
by Mike Fagan on Jan 3, 2010 12:46 AM EST
in MMA Events
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Rashad Evans cruised through the first two rounds, showcasing a complete mixed martial arts game full of striking, grappling, and clinching. By round three, a frustrated Thiago Silva began to taunt the former champ in an attempt to bait him into more aggressive engaging. What looked to be a last ditch effort to show any sort of effectiveness led to Silva landing a combination that had Evans wobbled and leaning on the fence.
And then Silva just...stopped. He walked away from Evans, put his hands on his hips, and let the MSU grad recover from the assault. It brought back memories of Heath Herring's decision to stand up after nearly obliterating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with a head kick back at UFC 73. The difference is that Herring had a legitimate concern - Nogueira carried a legend around with him as a fighter who pulled submissions out of the most precarious of positions.
Silva has no excuse. He had a chance to end a fight he was undoubtedly behind on the cards, but for whatever reason couldn't bring himself to finish.
It's a tempered victory for Evans. Up until the final exchanges, I was prepared to sing his praises. Evans demonstrated a fantastic ability to use his striking and quickness to set up his takedowns, finally putting together the two strong facets of his game. But his defensive lapse provides that much more support for the criticisms his game has received coming into this fight.
In any event, Evans should be praised for the evolution he DID demonstrate, as well as the ability to compose himself and grind out the victory. We can only hope his next trip into the Octagon involves a date with one Quinton Jackson.
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There’s a phrase I use a lot. It goes like this: ____ ____ went stupid.
Thiago Silva .. went stupid.
Twitter: @FlyByKnite
‘went full retarded’ should be knights new saying
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 12:56 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah Thiago was tired… but no way did he leave everything in the cage. That was foolish. Whether he would have finished Rashad or not he would not have regretted.
He should have thrown and thrown
like Manhoef vs. Cyborg. Don’t stop until you want to lose just so it’s over.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
by pdl on Jan 3, 2010 1:02 AM EST up reply actions
Remember the mystery ankle injury?
It’s been on my mind the whole night.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
by pdl on Jan 3, 2010 1:38 AM EST up reply actions
frankly, he didn’t seem injured, he was getting up with no problem and I’d imagine an ankle injury would make that hard to execute, specially against a wrestler.
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
he looked injured
before they entered the cage.. then when he walked back at the end of the first.. he looked like he was walking with a limp in his foot or ankle.
If Shad chooses to stand and trade with rampage he’s done for…
by kanodogg on Jan 3, 2010 12:38 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Page is also a wresler
I think he’ll be fine in the takedown defense
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
He’s also going to be much bigger than Rashad.
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
stanky chicken leg right thur
http://mixedmartialartsblogger.wordpress.com/
by Cory Braiterman on Jan 3, 2010 12:52 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
damn Thiago
so close man, work on that cardio bro
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
When I saw that one-two nail Rashad, I thought it was going to be over. Then it’s like Thiago had a brain fart and forgot what he was supposed to do.
I love me some Sexyama!
hear me out
i thought it should’ve been a draw
rd1 10-9 rashad
rd2 10-9 rashad
rd3 10-8 thiago due to the knockdown and rashads lack of offence
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 12:38 AM EST reply actions
did the only damage of the fight though… i mean, i knew the judges would score it for rashad but i think there need to be more draws because rashad didn’t hurt thiago at all during the fight
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 12:42 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Putting a guy down and then letting him recover as you stand there with your hands on your hips doesn’t earn you a 10-8.
by ufc4 on Jan 3, 2010 12:44 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
cause you determine that? i think knocking a guy down when the other guy didn’t do a bit of damage the whole fight is dominating in comparision… i don’t think he gave it away that much, the dude was trying to finish him.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 12:45 AM EST up reply actions
yeah, the judges rule in mma!!
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 2:52 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I agree. That last burst was impressive, but ultimately he got nothing done w/ it. 10-9 for Thiago, not 10-8.
luke thomas himself
said that if one fighter has no offence in the round and is dropped, that constitutes a 10-8
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 2:30 PM EST up reply actions
If Rashad had no offense in round 3, Thiago had no offense in round 1, so that was 10-8, so Rashad wins.
seriously… i feel completely justified after seeing the fight metric, despite them giving rd 10-9. overall, i have no idea what the judges look for because neither guy won that fight.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 2:35 PM EST up reply actions
i think it was more than a good combo
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 12:59 AM EST up reply actions
Sure he had Rashad wobbly. But he followed it up with nothing. Stunning your opponent once doesn’t make a 10-8 round. A fighter has to dominate the round.
well, i still think he did enough. rashad didn’t do ANYTHING.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 1:04 AM EST up reply actions
We’ll have to agree to disagree then. Most of the round was neutral. Thiago had one good bit of offense, which he didn’t sustain. I just can’t call that a 10-8.
ok, i’m cool with that but likewise, i can’t call that a win for rashad.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 1:12 AM EST up reply actions
but i don’t think rashad did anything… either way. fight metric agrees that it should’ve been a draw. forget 10-8 then.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 2:29 PM EST up reply actions
really? because i swore that they scored it a draw and now rashad has 2 draws.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 1:03 AM EST up reply actions
Regardless what anyone thinks about the judges (they suck) we all know exactly how they are going to score things like that and so do the fighters. If you don’t finish the fight you deserve what you get. Everyone can grouch as much as they like but this one is already in the books and nothing is going to change that.
i agree, and like i said above, i knew how it was going to be scored… but it doesn’t sit well with me.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 1:38 AM EST up reply actions
This fight isn’t going to sit well with these two guys either, really even if it was a draw it looked more like the both lost by the end. Rashad looked good for two except he couldn’t keep him down (which really looks bad being as wrestling is his strength) and Thiago had a real chance to pull out a miracle at the end after not doing much of anything except standing up but he laid an egg. Can’t say much for a guy who didn’t do anything for two rounds and then blew it in the third when he finally did manage to do something in the fight.
judges don’t know much anyways
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
seriously…. i thought that was established.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 1:06 AM EST up reply actions
Vitor said they are boxing judges and that they need to get people that does MMA to judge fights. I tend to agree with him.
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
and i agree with both of you brazilians.
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 1:12 AM EST up reply actions
showcasing a complete mixed martial arts game full of striking, grappling, and clinching? really? in the words of rashad’s teammate, “i am not impressed”. it was the old rashad, take down your opponent and do nothing… i thought his striking was much diminished from his last few fights. granted, he won the decision, but i don’t know if this fight put him any nearer to a title shot.
I don’t think his skills got any better, per se, but he meshed them more than we’ve seen so far.
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
with all respect, i think he took a few steps back in regards to striking and ground control. takedowns were impressive, though.
Takedown and top control mean ziltch if you don’t do damage.
For the 10-point must system. Rashad lost that fight.
taro?
nice to see you here, man :)
Gotta say I disagree with you there, though. Rashad basically nullified everything Silva had for two whole rounds, and then he did the intelligent thing in making Thiago come to him in round 3. He fell into Silva’s stupid little trap there and almost paid dearly for it, but ultimately he did control the landscape of the fight.
All that said, I’m still not a Rashad fan, and I really dislike the 10 points must system for MMA. It’s way beyond flawed.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
i still cant believe he didnt finish… i think thiagos corner told him he own round one i hope he didnt think he was winning in the score cards
At least we know Machida has two less guys to worry about at having a chance at taking his belt
by pandaboy99 on Jan 3, 2010 12:42 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
rec'd for truth
http://mixedmartialartsblogger.wordpress.com/
by Cory Braiterman on Jan 3, 2010 12:43 AM EST up reply actions
when i read this comment i thought it was orcus immediately
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 12:47 AM EST up reply actions
LOL
I’ll say it too to make you happy; Shogun’s belt! :p
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
Lyoto is just borrowing from Shogun for a while, he’ll give it back in May :p
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
Lyoto is a nice guy, he will let Shogun get a picture with the belt before he is taken to the hospital after getting beaten by Lyoto =)
Guillotine.
haha
you will be disappointed my friend.
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
hence
the new Karate Kid movie!
cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.
come on! not even close?? 1/2 of people thought it was machida
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 12:50 AM EST up reply actions
acutally i thought machida took the first 3.. that was with mute on though.. but i think if i say anymore ill be skewered on these forums
Damning? It showed it was an extremely close fight in almost every round.
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
ummmm....of course leg kicks mean nothing
by Koob on Jan 3, 2010 1:09 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Effectiveness scores by round:
(Machida-Rua)
R1: 15-28
R2: 21-11
R3: 47-46
R4: 4-10
R5: 6-37
The only definitive round is the fifth.
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
i love how this argument always comes back up! haha
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 1:14 AM EST up reply actions
so do you want machida again this time?
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 1:40 AM EST up reply actions
No, we’re tired of arguing, there is a rematch anyway, no need for this shit anymore.
"You hit too hard, too hard, too hard..."
shogun wins again
wandy tears threw the mid weights
by mr. gogoplata on Jan 3, 2010 1:17 AM EST up reply actions
As I said in the live blog:
If Rashad, or anyone else from Jackson’s camp, is going to try to get their GSP on, DO SOME DAMAGE!
A big reason GSP is beloved for how he fights is because he messes dudes up in between all of the takedowns. So, if you want to fight like him, then do more than some weak assed LnP.
Also, Rashad has a BJJ black belt to go along with his wrestling pedigree and Thiago Silva just stands up at will? I don’t want to say McDojo, cause it’s a Gracie school that gave him the belt, but that is fucking pathetic.
And, yes, Thiago Silva is a moron for letting up in the last minute. I don’t care how gassed you are, there are surely oxygen masks nearby for you when you collapse after the bell.
I specializes in grammar fail.
or after the refs steps in, I meant.
I need sleep.
I specializes in grammar fail.
by a tommy point on Jan 3, 2010 12:45 AM EST up reply actions
I dont wanna see Machida-Evans 2 after watching this
the only fight that interests me at 205 now is Machida-Rampage
I would even add Couture to the list as well since he could very well outwrestle Evans, though Randy’s chin scares me
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - Philippians 4:13
i don’t think couture would out-wrestle evans. evans has more ko power, as well
We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms, turning every good thing to rust.
Couture would absolutely out-do him in the clinch,
but if Rashad keeps blending his game like this for another fight or two, I’d even be willing to say that Couture couldn’t control him there.
Rashad looked like a black Couture out there for much of those first two rounds. Shorter, holding the taller guy up against the fence, working (less than Randy) dirty boxing in there with a few takedowns.
Rashad looked pretty good here, but I think Couture could still out-work him against the fence.
Rashad could take Couture’s head off with a Liddell-esque shot, though. Literally. Randy’s chin has all but disappeared.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
so many great match ups between shogun-rampage-nogueira-machida. rematch craziness too! we are lucky fans… especially that they’re all in the same org. sorry I had to say it
by cagefightonacid on Jan 3, 2010 3:02 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Great overall game?
One of the worst fights I’ve seen in some time. Evans manged to get Silva to go straight back as opposed to circling and thus he was able to run him into the cage, get takedowns and then proceed to do NOTHING with them aside from getting escaped after 30 seconds at max. Great wrestling background? Keep the man down and do something ffs.
I can’t wait to see the fightmetric on this one.
Power shots landed by Evans: 1
Power shots landed by Silva: 3
Takedowns by Evans: infinity
Escapes by Silva: infinity
I’ll also add that this was a terrible overall card in terms of relevance. Aside from Daley interjecting himself and maybe Jim Miller as well, none of these fighters are deserving of a title shot in the foreseeable future. While Rashad may end up getting a shot at Machida again, he certainly didn’t earn it from this showing.
http://mixedmartialartsblogger.wordpress.com/
by Cory Braiterman on Jan 3, 2010 12:50 AM EST reply actions
meh
he’s gotta wait behind Velasquez, Nog, Mir and Carwin.
http://mixedmartialartsblogger.wordpress.com/
by Cory Braiterman on Jan 3, 2010 1:03 AM EST up reply actions
I still dont understand how Carwin gets a championship shot with a win over Gonzaga… carwin should be fighting dos santos
remember when he knocked that guys mouth piece into the upper deck?
That put him in the fast lane to the title shot.
It’s unrealistic to think that Rashad could control Thiago from side control or hang on to the mount. Thiago is a great grappler and obviously had the size advantage to power out from underneath Rashad. Rashad should have just focused on GnP from half gaurd.
Thiago has no one else to blame but himself for not staying on him while he was hurt. WHy would he take his foot off the accelerator like that? He would tell Rashad to come on but he was only throwing 1 punch and backing up when rashad moved forward.
Props to Rashad for the walk out music.
Anyone with Jose Aldo’s level of reactions would KO him with a knee as soon as he went for a telegraphed takedown.
Some people need to share whatever they were drinking with the rest of us.
Rashad didn’t do much on the ground, but many of the takedowns were slams, and he won on the feet in rounds 1 and 2.
3 would have been 10-8 or finished if Silva jumped on Rashad when he rocked him, but he didn’t, I don’t think he did enough there for that to be 10-8 as it went down, this isn’t boxing, you need more than a knockdown to get a 10-8 round.
I think i can come to conclusion saying that.......
Rampage,Shogun,Mousasi,Machida and Lil Nog can all beat Evans after what happened to tonight
This is much like Fitch vs. Pierce
At the end… Fitch got buckled badly (n he actually took a lot of good shots in the fight including some stiff jabs)… I actually thought Pierce COULD have gotten the nod, but he lost… But nobody said anything about Fitch being overrated, even if some called him boring….
This seems to just be an excuse to attack Rashad. Yes, he made a costly error in defense in the third… Yes, he missed out on opportunities for GnP but he did have some really good takedowns, that were setup with good boxing… He also got into range really well, and stopped bouncing so much, while incorporating some head/shoulder movement. He wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t that bad…
There are many fights where guys get plain ol ROCKED, and they don’t automatically become overrated. Rashad fought one of the top ranked LHWs in the world, and earned a solid decision.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
I'm also not saying there shouldn't be criticism...
but a bit of the hate is just overboard. We had a night full of KOs and submissions… and the main event went the distance. But that doesn’t erase the entire performance… Rashad incorporated his wrestling and boxing well, but had some trouble holding a BJJ Black Belt on the ground, while giving up size…
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
I have just had to come to the conclusion that outside of coaching, I just plain don’t like Rashad. He won the fight, but I really wish Thiago had gone for the kill more.
Guillotine.
and thats cool
because everyone is entitled to like who they want. I just think that if you compare Rashad’s performance to ones from Guida and Fitch, it seems unfair to bash him the way some are.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
All Rashad did was wrestle Silva. Silva did more damage.
Rashad won the decision according to the currnet lame scoring system. Silva won that fight.
really?
Thiago landed the biggest shot and had one flurry that was big. Other than that Rashad used his boxing to get in, and got takedowns. He didn’t get KO’d and easilly won the first two rounds.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
I guess it depends on how heavily you award
‘Octagon Control,’ since essentially Rashad took that category uncontested. In collegiate wrestling you get 2 points for a takedown and 1 point for an escape. I think it’s a closer gap in MMA, but the principle is the same: if you initiate a takedown and succeed, you’re controlling the terrain of the fight. All fights start standing, and standing is the ‘neutral’ position. Takedowns should be awarded..maybe not as much as some believe, and maybe more than others think.
After you look at that category, the rest of it really does lend itself to a Rashad win. The only round Thiago was coming forward (aggression) was the third, and the only round he won the striking was also the third. Using just those three categories (of the five? total) you’d have to give the win to Rashad.
Which is why the 10 point must system sucks. There should be greater volatility in round scoring. 10-5 should be possible, not common, but possible. 10-5 simply can’t happen in MMA because there’s no standing eight count to let the fighter recover. If he’s flashed for a few seconds and can’t defend himself, the fight’s over.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
Man, I don’t see how ‘Page can’t go into the Rashad fight as a huge favorite after this. He has enough wrestling to neutralize Rashad from just winning a decision, and is clearly the better boxer. The only thing that worries me is I think Wolfslair is a very mediocre camp compared to JSF, but I still like Rampage big time. (disclaimer: I’m biased toward ’Page in every way)
We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms, turning every good thing to rust.
I agree. The only thing I can think of is if Rashad continues to get better at blending takedowns with striking and is able to get in Rampage’s head about what’s coming next.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito Ortiz on Vitor Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Jan 3, 2010 12:18 PM EST up reply actions
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