UFC
UFC NEWS: Dana White says Rashad Evans has too many friends, says he's insane for sitting out while waiting for Shogun
Feb 12, 2011 - 12:31:16 PM UFC NEWS: Dana White says Rashad Evans has too many friends, says he's insane for sitting out while waiting for Shogun

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Reports yesterday that Quinton Jackson would be facing Matt Hamill at UFC 130 came as a bit of a shock after initial reports that Rashad Evans would take Thiago Silva's place at the May event. But, according to a report from Heavy.com, Evans is awaiting the outcome of the Jon Jones vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua bout before determining his next move, taking him out of the running for the rematch with Rampage.

That decision, and his public comments that he wouldn't fight Jones because they are friends, has brought him under fire from UFC President Dana White. In an interview with MMADigest.com, White began by criticizing Evans for waiting for Shogun in the first place.

"When [Rashad] said he was going to sit out and wait for Shogun, I said 'You're insane. This guy is injured and has to sit out, has to overcome all these things, rust and you're just going to sit out?'" White said. "If you truly believe that you're the best in the world, you should be ready to fight anybody because whoever you fight on the way up are guys, if you win the title, these are the guys that are coming at you anyway."

"You might as well stay active; you might as well make money. Fighters have a very small window of opportunity and this kid is just letting the window close."

But White really targeted Evans for not wanting to fight "friends," and said he's got too many of these so-called friends that he's unwilling to fight.

"Now [Rashad is] in this situation [with Jones] where 'this guy is my friend and that guy is my friend,'" White said. "Dude you have way too many friends. You need to keep the friends thing down and stop training with people."

"Now he's talking 'maybe I'll go to heavyweight, maybe I'll go to middleweight,'" White continued. "Well if he goes to middleweight, Nate Marquardt is one of the top middleweights in the world, one of his friends. Shane Carwin is one of the best heavyweights in the world, that's one of his friends. He's got too many friends. Rashad at middleweight is one or two fights away [from a title shot]. If we did a [Yushin] Okami vs. Rashad Evans fight and the winner fights [Anderson] Silva or Georges St. Pierre... oh, but he won't fight Georges St. Pierre because they're friends."

Penick's Analysis: White has a good point here on Evans. He's working with so many people that are at a high level in multiple divisions that he's limiting the opponents he's apparently willing to face. Whether he's hiding behind the "friends" excuse to avoid fighting some high competition is up for debate, but it's certainly a convenient way for him to get out of some tough fights. And when you consider that Evans and Jones haven't trained together for that long of a time, it doesn't make a ton of sense for why they'd be so unwilling to fight each other already, especially if a title was on the line. That said, if they've developed a close relationship, which they claim to have done, it makes more sense, and they're not the only teammates to not want to fight one another. But Evans isn't doing himself any favors with the UFC by sitting out longer and waiting to see what happens in that fight in March.

[Dana White art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]