Rashad Evans the GOAT?

First came up here:
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/8/9/2352385/rashad-evans-jon-jones-mma-rankings

but then today this came up:
http://www.mmamania.com/2011/8/11/2357177/chael-sonnen-the-rashad-evans-that-fought-at-ufc-133-is-the-best
Chael Sonnen
The former middleweight number one contender talks to Bruce Buffer (via Sherdog.com) about Evans' "scary" performance:

"I believe the best light heavyweight of all time is the Rashad
Evans that stepped into the ring on Saturday night [at UFC 133]. A lot
of people are really missing it, they're like 'Well, he beat Tito and
Tito wasn't quite ready' and I'm going 'wait a minute, Tito's always
ready.' Secondly, let's understand Tito hit Rashad so hard two different
times. Once with a cross and once with a hook that would have sent most
people down and Rashad walked right through it. Let's understand Rashad
was caught in a choke and found his way out. Let's understand Rashad
went on an absolute sprint where I thought 'wow, this is great' because
I'm cheering for Tito and he's punching himself out. Not only did he not
punch himself out he did about two or three more of those sprints in
the fight and then he finally did get the finish. The Rashad Evans that
was in the ring that night, people really need to look at that
performance. That was flat-out scary. Rashad moves his record to 18-1,
that's the best record in our industry, a former champion, he could walk
away right now and he will go down in the hall of fame."

I thought it was a great performance but not the best ever. Rashad does improve every fight though.

I think Chael is talking up Rashad because he thinks he might face him in the future and it's a deferent approach then just talking shit about the other fighter. I think Chael wanted Tito to not only win against Rashad but he probably wanted Tito to get the belt back so he(Chael) can do what he told his dying father he would do which is beat Tito for the LHW belt.

Course I didn't get to see Rashad vs Tito 2 so maybe he did look really good but I'm taking this as half Chael talking up a possible future opponent and half truthful opinion of the Rashads accomplishments.

no... this is just Chael talkin... period

Respectable opinion. Still not fully on the Rashad train

bobbitt15 wrote:

Respectable opinion. Still not fully on the Rashad train

Would it be just as respectable if it was said by Frank Mir?

Yeah. I was impressed with how hard Rashad pushed and still had plenty left. His guard passing and top game was way improved too. If Tito could've survived until the 3rd it would've been interesting to see if he was still on full blast. I'm still not really impressed with his striking footwork though

bobbitt15 wrote:

Yeah. I was impressed with how hard Rashad pushed and still had plenty left. His guard passing and top game was way improved too. If Tito could've survived until the 3rd it would've been interesting to see if he was still on full blast. I'm still not really impressed with his striking footwork though

I was just checking if your comment was Sonnen love or genuine respect for the take itself. I wouldn't call anyone crazy that tries to make this argument. Could Rashad on his best day beat any other LHW on their best day? I wouldn't put it past him. I have never liked Rashad but I have always respected his skills.

Rashad did look outstanding that night, poor Tito got the brunt of Shad's frustrating year of setbacks. But Chael's gone a little overboard here, Tito isn't exactly a prime top five LHW.

I still don't think rashad can beat machida.

This is slightly too much, but that Rashad was scary good. The knee that ended that fight may have been the single most painful looking strike I've ever seen. Brutal.