Rashad 'Suga' Evans on His Injury Comeback, British Fighters, and MMA in the Olympics

Rashad ‘Suga’ Evans became one of the most recognisable figures in Mixed Martial Arts after exploding onto the scene in 2005, when he won the reality television show ‘The Ultimate Fighter’.

After being awarded a contract in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Evans went on to compete at both Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight and has beaten some of the biggest names in the sport.

With victories over the likes of Tito Ortiz, Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, Thiago Silva and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Evans cemented his reputation as one of the most dangerous fighters in the UFC.

The former Light Heavyweight champion has been sidelined due to injury, but is over in the UK to promote UFC 138, which takes place on November 5 in Birmingham.  

Sportsvibe.co.uk met up with the 32-year-old to talk about injuries, the emergence of British fighters and the possibility of MMA in the Olympics.

Q. Your MMA career began under the tutelage of Dan Severn. What was it like to work with a UFC Hall of Famer?

Dan is a legend in the sport and it was great to work with someone like him. At the time I was still quite young and I didn’t learn everything that I could of, but it was still good to work with him.

Q. Your first taste of the UFC came in The Ultimate Fighter series two. As a heavyweight, lots of critics said you were too small and not agile enough. Did you take much notice of what was being said and did it give you the motivation to prove those people wrong?

It was hard because I didn’t know how difficult it was going to be. The other guys taking part were big but the thing I found hardest was that it seemed as though everybody was against me from the start. Once I got the mentality that ‘I don’t give a dam no more’, I just went out and performed to the best of my ability and just kept on winning and proved all those doubters wrong.

Q. You are currently out of action due to an injury. When can we expect you back in the Octagon?

The recovery is going well and ideally I want to be back in February. We have an event on Super Bowl weekend so that would be great if I can fight on that card. Ultimately I want to work my way back to getting a title shot again so we’ll have to see how things plan out.

Q. Having just mentioned a title shot, you were light-heavyweight champion before losing the belt to Lyoto Machida, who is fighting Jon Jones at UFC 140. Are they both potential future opponents for you?

I would love to fight Lyoto again and rectify my loss against him and I would like the opportunity to fight Jones as well. I want to be the guy that solves the puzzle because I use to train with Jones; I know where I can beat him.

Q. You’re over here for UFC 138 in Birmingham. For MMA fans that haven’t been to see UFC live, what can they expect?

A lot of energy. One thing about a UFC show is that you can get sent into overdrive. The atmosphere is great in the arena and it’s loud with the fans screaming. The fights are great, the music is playing and the energy is there from the first bell all the way to the end. It’s great entertainment.

We also have the fan Expo’s when we come over to the UK, which is important as fans get to meet and talk to fighters ahead of the big events.  Lots of the fans that meet fighters will then go out of the way to watch and support a fighter they have had a chance to meet.

Q. You’ve fought and beat British fighter Michael Bisping in the past and there are two Brits on the main card on Saturday.  What have you made of the British fighters in UFC?

The British fighters are getting better. In the past they never had anything as far as wrestling goes, but the wrestling is coming along a lot better now. Michael Bisping has showed the wrestling side of things is getting higher and higher over here so with that added into the mix, British fighters will be very tough to compete against.

Q. You’re from an amateur wrestling background so what have you made of the likes of Brock Lesner coming into MMA from professional wrestling?

Honestly, I’ve been impressed with Brock. He came into UFC and has held the heavyweight title already, that’s very impressive. As big as he is, you have to understand that some of the guys he’s been fighting and beating are high-level guys with a lot more experience than him. I’ve got to take my hat off to him because that is not an easy thing to do.

Q. What do you make of other MMA promotions such as BAMMA in the UK?

I’ve caught a number of BAMMA shows and that’s what I like; I like to have promotions like BAMMA and other promotions that are top notch. They have seen what the UFC has done and are trying to use the same blueprint to gain attraction. It’s also good to have a healthy rivalry in order to improve your product and make it better. If BAMMA comes up with a good show, UFC then wants to better it.  The more competition there is out there will only improve the sport.

Q. New sports are always being introduced to the Olympics so do you think we’ll ever see MMA as an Olympic sport?

I hope so, I would like it if MMA got the chance to become a part of the Olympics because I think that would take it to another level. I think it’s a perfect fitting to showcase a forum such as MMA and people could look at it and say this is a sport just like everything else and not as barbaric as people think.

Honestly, it should be a part of the Olympics. When the Games were first established, MMA was already in it with the gladiators so why is it not now?

Q. Away from the Octagon, you do work with ESPN on their magazine programme MMA Live. Is that something you want to do more of?

I love doing the MMA Live stuff and the on camera things. I get a rush doing it but in a different way to when I step inside the Octagon for a fight. When on air you’ve got a time schedule, you got to make your points sound good and come across well – you have to be sharp with it and with it going out live it’s a real adrenaline rush.

Q. I understand you’re a bit of a computer game fan. Do you ever play the UFC games and do you ever play as yourself?

I do play the UFC games, but I haven’t played in a while because my nephews kept on smashing me at it and I got too embarrassed by it. But I love playing the UFC games, they’re fun, although I never play myself in the games. It feels weird so I will always be somebody else because if I lose I’ll get pissed off.

UFC 138 is live on ESPN UK on Saturday night.