• UFC 138

'Leben fights out of a different place' - Rashad Evans

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Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans has warned Mark Munoz that UFC 138 rival Chris Leben will be like no other fighter he has ever faced this weekend.

Munoz and Leben collide in the middleweight division, and Evans is keen to see who comes out on top. His head leans towards the more versatile Munoz, but he told the Filipino Wrecking Machine to expect the Diaz-style treatment from Leben.

"I'm always interested to watch Chris Leben fight. He just fights from a different place," Evans told ESPN.

"Every once in a while you see those fighters that fight from a different place, like the Diaz brothers, they're p***ed off at the world. It's almost like it's a street fight, they love it, and Leben is one of them.

"[But] I love watching Mark Munoz, he's getting better. I think Munoz is going to get it, he's better with his stand-up, and his wrestling is on point so he'll be too much for Leben."

Evans has never fought in the UK, having enjoyed a sharp rise to stardom since his time on The Ultimate Fighter, but he admits he would jump at the chance to headline a card on English soil. "For sure. I like it over here, it's one of the oldest cities in the world, and it'd be good to have the chance to compete over here," Evans said.

As a regular analyst on ESPN's MMA Live, Evans admits he watches every UFC event, and he is keen to see how several British fighters fare at UFC 138. The UK is yet to produce a UFC champion, and Evans believes the introduction of wrestling programmes at school would be a major step forward.

"I definitely think you should have wrestling in schools. Wrestling's an awesome sport and it's really big in the rest of Europe. I don't know why it's not over here," said the former champion.

"It teaches you a different mentality. Wrestling is one of the earliest and oldest martial arts there is. If you grow up with a wrestling coach, you learn differently. If you were late, everything was about push-ups and laps around the gym.

"I once said, 'Am I on a wrestling team or a damn track team?' That resulted in me running for the entire practice. It gives you a certain mentality."

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