Dana: "Rashad has too many friends"

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/2/11/1989487/dana-white-rashad-evans-has-way-too-many-friends

Quote :

"When [Rashad Evans] 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?"


"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."


"And now it's in this (Jon Jones)
situation where this guy is my friend and that guy is my friend. 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. 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 winner fights (Anderson) Silva or Georges St. Pierre. Oh but he won't fight Georges St. Pierre because they're friends."

LOL nice Dana

not professional

so true. Page and Hendo fought and they are friends it didn't seem to bother them.

Lol, exactly what I said. Evans is ruining his career.

Dana hit that shit spot on!

These aren't just his friends. They're also training partners. Why would you fight against a training partner? Who's in whose corner? Just let the guy fight who he will, and if he decides to turn down title fights, that's his decision.

chorky777 wrote:

These aren't just his friends. They're also training partners. Why would you fight against a training partner? Who's in whose corner? Just let the guy fight who he will, and if he decides to turn down title fights, that's his decision.

The answer is because they are PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS. Generally that means they will fight whoever, whenever, wherever barring injury. The problem is when you get into top 5 and top 10 in a weight class nobody wants to see a top 5 fighter against barely top 15's anymore. Look at Minotoro. He said he'd fight Machida if he had to, Condit doesn't mind fighting GSP. It's become a trend though ever since the AKA boys started doing this that other fighters refused to fight team mates. If your not willing to fight your team mates then you should go to another weight class or another promotion to avoid them just like Miletich.

It wouldnt be bad if Rashad didnt have so many guys he wouldnt fight like Dana said. Its not just Bones he has a list of dudes he wont fight.

That's right. If it was only Jon Jones then we'd understand but he wont fight-

Jon Jones
Nate Marquardt
GSP

Jamal wrote:

That's right. If it was only Jon Jones then we'd understand but he wont fight-

Jon Jones
Nate Marquardt
GSP

Shane Carwin.

Jamal wrote:

That's right. If it was only Jon Jones then we'd understand but he wont fight-

Jon Jones
Nate Marquardt
GSP

Add Shane Carwin, Andrei Arlovski, Brendan Shaub, Keith Jardine, and Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Dana's right.

http://www.mmamania.com/2011/2/12/1990523/rashad-evans-might-cut-down-to-middleweight-if-the-fans-want-to-see-it

Quote :

"You know, I would never put going to any weight class out of the
question because if a fight was there and it was going to be a fun and
competitive fight and something that the fans wanted to see then I would
try to do it. But I started my camp at 237, my last camp, and it's
going to be really hard for me to make weight. I think the older I'm
getting, my body is starting to settle in a little bit, besides the fact
my biceps are growing every second of the day. I'm just kidding but I'm
getting to be a little bit bigger now so it's harder for me to make
185. It would be a very hard cut but if the fans wanted to see it then I
might do it, you know."

I didn't realize he was quite that big, 237lbs cutting down to 185lbs would be interesting. Curious to see how he would handle the cut.

People don't understand the intimate nature of the camps some of these fighters come from. They just don't. The guys who fight each other and don't give a fuck - most of them ain't winning titles these days. The camps where guys form these intimate relationships are flat out the best places in the world period - Greg Jackson, Blackhouse and AKA. Sure, ATT and Xtreme Couture guys, some of them may be fighting each other, but tell me, what are these camps doing in relation to the rest eh? People name drop other "real" fighters, but would Page fight Michael Bisping? No. The side of the business is tricky and sucks for a promoter, but this fan-held perception that "it's just business" and "they're professional athletes" is frankly stupid as fucking sin and entirely ignorant of the true nature of MMA training, based solely on fan/promoter ideas of "omg fuckin fighters". It's like a linebacker coach or cornerback switching teams for a game or two then coming back into the fold. "But they're all athletes amirite?"

Makes my head hurt. Shut the fuck up Dana.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

People don't understand the intimate nature of the camps some of these fighters come from. They just don't. The guys who fight each other and don't give a fuck - most of them ain't winning titles these days. The camps where guys form these intimate relationships are flat out the best places in the world period - Greg Jackson, Blackhouse and AKA. Sure, ATT and Xtreme Couture guys, some of them may be fighting each other, but tell me, what are these camps doing in relation to the rest eh? People name drop other "real" fighters, but would Page fight Michael Bisping? No. The side of the business is tricky and sucks for a promoter, but this fan-held perception that "it's just business" and "they're professional athletes" is frankly stupid as fucking sin and entirely ignorant of the true nature of MMA training, based solely on fan/promoter ideas of "omg fuckin fighters". It's like a linebacker coach or cornerback switching teams for a game or two then coming back into the fold. "But they're all athletes amirite?"

Makes my head hurt. Shut the fuck up Dana.

+100

Wolfgangsta wrote:

People don't understand the intimate nature of the camps some of these fighters come from. They just don't. The guys who fight each other and don't give a fuck - most of them ain't winning titles these days. The camps where guys form these intimate relationships are flat out the best places in the world period - Greg Jackson, Blackhouse and AKA. Sure, ATT and Xtreme Couture guys, some of them may be fighting each other, but tell me, what are these camps doing in relation to the rest eh? People name drop other "real" fighters, but would Page fight Michael Bisping? No. The side of the business is tricky and sucks for a promoter, but this fan-held perception that "it's just business" and "they're professional athletes" is frankly stupid as fucking sin and entirely ignorant of the true nature of MMA training, based solely on fan/promoter ideas of "omg fuckin fighters". It's like a linebacker coach or cornerback switching teams for a game or two then coming back into the fold. "But they're all athletes amirite?"

Makes my head hurt. Shut the fuck up Dana.

If it were one fighter and one fighter only Rashad wouldn't fight nobody would have a huge issue with it. However when we were able to rail off almost ten names across three weight classes it becomes a bit much. Especially with titles in the picture since Rashad is a top 5 light heavyweight it's ridiculous. Thats the equivalent in a way to a defensive player in football saying he wouldn't put the hurt on a former teammate in the super bowl because they train together, live next door to one another, or fucked the same chick in college after a bender one night. How anyone could justify passing up/refusing to fight anyone in the world with a title on the line in professional sports is irrational. Intimate bonds be damned when the most prestigious accomplishment hangs in the balance. Men have dreamed about, scratched and clawed, bled, and given everything in their lives/bodies for those championships and now all of a sudden certain individuals are compiling lists of people they would never fight even in spite of them? I call bullshit.

Ludo wrote:

Wolfgangsta wrote:

People don't understand the intimate nature of the camps some of these fighters come from. They just don't. The guys who fight each other and don't give a fuck - most of them ain't winning titles these days. The camps where guys form these intimate relationships are flat out the best places in the world period - Greg Jackson, Blackhouse and AKA. Sure, ATT and Xtreme Couture guys, some of them may be fighting each other, but tell me, what are these camps doing in relation to the rest eh? People name drop other "real" fighters, but would Page fight Michael Bisping? No. The side of the business is tricky and sucks for a promoter, but this fan-held perception that "it's just business" and "they're professional athletes" is frankly stupid as fucking sin and entirely ignorant of the true nature of MMA training, based solely on fan/promoter ideas of "omg fuckin fighters". It's like a linebacker coach or cornerback switching teams for a game or two then coming back into the fold. "But they're all athletes amirite?"

Makes my head hurt. Shut the fuck up Dana.

If it were one fighter and one fighter only Rashad wouldn't fight nobody would have a huge issue with it. However when we were able to rail off almost ten names across three weight classes it becomes a bit much. Especially with titles in the picture since Rashad is a top 5 light heavyweight it's ridiculous. Thats the equivalent in a way to a defensive player in football saying he wouldn't put the hurt on a former teammate in the super bowl because they train together, live next door to one another, or fucked the same chick in college after a bender one night. How anyone could justify passing up/refusing to fight anyone in the world with a title on the line in professional sports is irrational. Intimate bonds be damned when the most prestigious accomplishment hangs in the balance. Men have dreamed about, scratched and clawed, bled, and given everything in their lives/bodies for those championships and now all of a sudden certain individuals are compiling lists of people they would never fight even in spite of them? I call bullshit.

+100

First off there is no way that I believe he is coming in at 237, unless he is just letting himself go to shit after every camp and even then, maybe 215-220. If he doesn't want to fight these guys then what else is he going to do, he says he has nothing to prove, but I disagree you are in the fight game to prove what you have every time you step in the cage, have you gotten better, can you fight the elite fighters, you got your ass kicked by Machida why don't you grab your balls and go ask for that match, people would love to see that, three losses for Machida and he is done pretty much, but if you lose twice, where do you go from there.

The overeems said tonight if it came down to it they would fight each other

If two brothers would fight one another then this talk is over?

Dutch guys all train and fight, that is different. Anyway, how many Dutch dudes holding UFC titles right now? 0.

The only reason Rashad Evans is as good as he is is his high level training partners who he shares his weaknesses with and trains them with. The reason these people are as good as they are in the fucking first place is the nature of their training partners and the trust they have. They wouldn't be able to train in the right ways if they had to worry "well, I may have to fight this guy in 8 or 16 months". They'd hold stuff back, use it against each other. Look how Hominick knew exactly how to smash Roop. It has nothing to do with "being friends". This is what you're completely missing in this Ludo. This isn't just about friendship as you understand it, though the relationship some people have mentally with fighting does preclude them from attacking those they hold dear to them as well(Bigfoot for instance once said he'd retire before closing his fist to Minotauro). This is about weaknesses, trust and secrets. This is nothing like an NFL player being former team mates with a friend. This would be like coaches and team mates mid season having to game plan against each other.

The one thing you can say is that the Jackson tree of fighters is getting too large and is harming the business side of things. The concept itself cannot be criticized though.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Dutch guys all train and fight, that is different. Anyway, how many Dutch dudes holding UFC titles right now? 0.

The only reason Rashad Evans is as good as he is is his high level training partners who he shares his weaknesses with and trains them with. The reason these people are as good as they are in the fucking first place is the nature of their training partners and the trust they have. They wouldn't be able to train in the right ways if they had to worry "well, I may have to fight this guy in 8 or 16 months". They'd hold stuff back, use it against each other. Look how Hominick knew exactly how to smash Roop. It has nothing to do with "being friends". This is what you're completely missing in this Ludo. This isn't just about friendship as you understand it, though the relationship some people have mentally with fighting does preclude them from attacking those they hold dear to them as well(Bigfoot for instance once said he'd retire before closing his fist to Minotauro). This is about weaknesses, trust and secrets. This is nothing like an NFL player being former team mates with a friend. This would be like coaches and team mates mid season having to game plan against each other.

The one thing you can say is that the Jackson tree of fighters is getting too large and is harming the business side of things. The concept itself cannot be criticized though.

I can understand the basis of it. I can understand not wanting to have to worry about fighting the same guys you train with down the road. But for fucks sakes when you have a list you can't count on one hand of high level guys you will never ever fight against across the only three divisions that are even options for you then what are you really here for? Hominick may have known exactly how to smash Roop, but lets be honest a similar result would have come from it anyway, Roop was in over his head and his only chance was to snag a takedown and hope to do something with it.

It was one thing when Fitch said he'd never fight Koscheck or Swick.
It was one thing when Anderson said he'd never fight Machida.
It was one thing when Pat Miletich moved out of the welterweight division
It's one thing to refuse to ever fight your mentor(Bigfoot on Minotauro).

But seriously. Come the fuck on and fight already.

I don't know that Rashad has said he wouldn't fight all these people like that. I've never heard he is all that close to Carwin. Nate, and Jones, and King Mo, sure.