• UFC 156

Evans swears he would end Silva reign

ESPN staff
January 31, 2013
Rashad Evans, left, lost to Jon Jones at UFC 145 in April © Getty Images
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Light-heavyweight fighter Rashad Evans is convinced he would beat middleweight champion Anderson Silva but fails to see the purpose in such a bout.

Silva, 37, has been described by UFC president Dana White as the "greatest fighter ever in mixed martial arts" and is seemingly out of potential challengers in his division.

In July, Silva defended his title against Chael Sonnen and although Chris Weidman has tried to lure the Brazilian into the octagon, his camp remain uninterested.

With match-ups for Silva against fighters in other divisions being talked about, Evans described a bout between the pair as a "fantasy fight" but stressed it would not be a good move for the middleweight.

"I'm not a good matchup for him," Evans told MMAjunkie.com. "I'm sure he's not chomping at the bit to fight me. He doesn't really have anything to gain from fighting me, so I don't know if he would even want to fight me. I don't know why he would go out of his way to fight somebody like me. If the UFC is not going to make him fight me, then I don't see why he would fight me.

"Besides that, I love Anderson," Evans added. "He's a great guy outside of the cage, and he's one of my favorite fighters to watch inside the cage. To me, to fight him would be a little bittersweet because I know I would beat him. I know I would beat him."

Evans has his own fights at light-heavyweight to focus on at the moment and is taking on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in UFC 156 in Las Vegas this weekend. Following his loss to division champion, and former training partner, Jon Jones, Evans is taking nothing for granted against the Brazilian.

"They're overlooking Nogueira, but I'm not," Evans said. "They've already got me winning the fight and wanting to fight at 185. But for me, it's first things first, and that's fighting Nogueira. That's the only thing I really care about right now. Anderson is I guess a fantasy fight. It has to be the right deal for it to even happen.

"It's just a matter of getting that belt back around my waist. I just want to go out there and compete with the best guys. If I get a chance to fight Jon Jones or Anderson Silva or whoever may have the belt at the time, that's what it's about. I just want to go out there and compete and have fun competing."

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