Well, I guess this throws the ring rust vs recently fought advantage theory out the window. After more than fourteen months away from the Octagon to Tito’s five weeks, Rashad Evans returned to the cage in an entertaining bout that reminded us all that getting hit in the body hurts. A lot. Honestly, I didn’t think Rashad would fight until I saw the clock hit 4:59 in round 1, but he went out there and worked his explosive athleticism and freshly acquired abs from that first second on. Tito was happy to oblige ‘Suga’ in a few wild exchanges, then Tito is put on his back and roughed up in side control and later almost a crucifix. Tito shows a lot of savvy and is able to work his way out of it. The crowd even starts chanting his name to end round 1. Exciting stuff, this main event.
Tito comes out and looks a little tired as he meets Rashad in the middle of the cage for round 2. Rashad pushes him up against the chain link and subsequently takes the Huntington Beach Bad Boy down to the ground, only to get caught in a somewhat tight guillotine. Shad pops his head out like a cork and then proceeds to knee Tito right in the solar plexus, totally bumming him out and causing him to turtle up and take a bunch of shots that are not intelligently defended. The fight ends with 12 seconds left in round 2 and now Rashad Evans will fight the winner of Bones/Rampage. Huzzah!
