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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Rashad Evans is taking on Dan Henderson in two weeks in the new main event at UFC 161, taking the top slot after the loss of Renan Barao. It's an extremely important fight for both fighters, but perhaps especially so for Evans, who has lost two straight. He needs to get back into the win column in a big way, and this week he described how he's hoping to make a statement in the fight.
"I had a chance to compete against some of the best mixed martial artists of all-time: Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Machida, Rampage Jackson,Tito Ortiz, Jon Jones, now Dan Henderson," Evans said (via BJPenn.com). "I'm excited about the opportunity to fight Dan Henderson. He's definitely on the top of that list of some of the best and some of the hall-of-famers I've competed against. I know what I want to do to get the results that I want to get: Trust in myself and gettin' it done. Takedown, ground and pound, roll up our sleeves and get dirty and go to work."
"I'm gonna try to get 50 takedowns this fight. 50," he continued. "If get him down on the ground, I want to ground and pound him until he's done. Dan's right hand is very dangerous. He knocks everybody out with it, hard. He just knocks them the hell out and they sleep for a long time. I don't think it'll be a mistake to trade with him, I've got some power too.
"Let's not confuse this whole situation. I'm not going to go in there and stand in front of him and try to bang it out and hope to God I don't get hit with that big right hand. I'm going to be smart. He's gonna want to knock me out. It's not gonna happen. He's not knocking me out. I'm not going anywhere. I may have stumbled a little bit, fell down, but I get myself back up, dust myself off. I'm a top competitor. I deserve a chance to fight for the belt."
He'll try to make that statement on June 15 in Winnipeg, and if he can impose his will against Henderson, he just might start himself back on the path to redemption.
Penick's Analysis: 50 takedowns obviously isn't going to actually happen, but the general idea makes sense. He doesn't need to stand toe to toe with Henderson in this fight, he needs to use his wrestling to avoid the type of shot Henderson's capable of landing. If he can plant Henderson on his back and do damage there, that will be his best chance at picking up this win and halting his losing streak. If he shows up with another lackluster performance, however, he'll continue his downward spiral in the UFC's light heavyweight division.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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