Wow. Who saw that one coming? Tonight, in the main event of UFC 88, "Sugar" Rashad Evan became the first man to put Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell to sleep.
Just shy of two minutes into the second round, Rashad Evans landed a perfect overhand right, placing it squarely and powerfully on the chin of Chuck Liddell. Chuck's head jerked violently to his right, which caused him to go limp and collapse to the canvas. Out cold.
Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan were discussing the uppercut that Chuck almost simultaneously landed as Evans' overhand right found its mark. However, viewing the replay, Chuck's uppercut would not have connected because Evans' head was out of the way. It may have hit Evans' collar bone, or even his throat -- which certainly would not have been pleasant -- but Evans would not have been rocked by it.
Evans displayed outstanding, if not somewhat odd, body movement as he locked horns with "The Iceman". I was surprised to see Evans repeatedly enter into Chuck's strike zone. Evans landed jabs, kicks, and displayed superior striking speed. He also took a page out of Machida's playbook by eluding most of Chuck's strikes. Chuck managed to get off a couple solid strikes, but that was it. Evans not only seemed confident in his striking at the beginning of the fight, but his confidence seemed to increase as the fight wore on.
I will watch with great interest as the UFC tries to figure out how to organize the light heavyweight division now that their #1 rock star has fallen for the third time in his past four fights.
I was very impressed with Evans' performance. He displayed his true potential tonight: lightening quickness, powerful striking, and the ability to step out of danger. Congrats to Evans as he will very likely get the "Knockout of the Night" bonus, which would be well-deserved.
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