Evans brings ‘A’ game, beats Jackson

Despite all the trash talk leading into his bout with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Evans resisted the temptation to stand and trade barbs and emerged from the main event of UFC 114 at the MGM Grand on Saturday night with a unanimous-decision victory.

Evans used his superior wrestling skills to secure several takedowns and keep Jackson’s back against the fence for long stretches.

“The game plan was simple: Do what I do well,” Evans said.

Evans opened the fight with his best punch of the night, sending Jackson staggering back to the cage in the opening minute. He was unable to capitalize, but Evans also scored a takedown to win the first round.

The second round featured a great deal of clinching against the cage, a position controlled by Evans.

Jackson appeared to be looking for a one-punch knockout, rarely trying to set up his shots.

The strategy looked like it might pay off in the final round as he floored Evans with a big right when Evans had his head down. Jackson followed Evans to the ground and tried to finish the fight with 3:30 left, but Evans grabbed hold of Jackson and regained his wits.

“I went out for a little bit,” Evans said. “I was just fighting through. I’m not going to give up no matter what.”

Jackson knew he had missed an opportunity.

“I was very surprised that he recovered from that. I put all my eggs in that basket,” said Jackson, who was fighting for the first time in 14 months, a break that allowed him to star in the movie version of “The A-Team.” “I guess ring rust is a factor.”

Evans turned the tables and again got a takedown, which he used to work to top position as the final round ticked away.

He won 30-27 on two cards and 29-28 on the third.

Evans said he grew more confident as the fight progressed. “At first, he was sharp. Then, he kind of slowed down, and I was able to use my speed a little bit more.”

Jackson conceded defeat and also pointed to Evans’ quickness as the key.

“I tried my best. Rashad is really tough. I can tell he worked really hard,” Jackson said. “He was faster than I anticipated.”

Evans and Jackson, both former light heavyweight champions, indicated they would be interested in a rematch, although Evans next will face Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, the light heavyweight champion.

The main event capped a card with several fights that went the distance, though one fight ended in the blink of an eye.

With just one punch, Mike Russow scored the knockout of the night and put at least a temporary stop to the soaring hype of Todd Duffee.

Duffee controlled the fight for nearly 2½ rounds as Russow was unable to mount any sort of offense until a big right knocked Duffee out cold at 2:35 of the third round.

The rest of the main card consisted of three fights that went to the judges.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira won the most controversial of the decisions.

Nogueira won on two of the three judges’ cards but won his fight over late replacement Jason Brilz in the minds of very few fans based on the reaction.

Brilz, who stepped in for Forrest Griffin after the Las Vegan underwent shoulder surgery, was game for the first two rounds and appeared to believe he was ahead in the fight.

Nogueira finally established his offense in the third round and won the round on all three cards. He was awarded a tightly contested first round by two of the judges, thus earning the decision.

Nogueira attempted to apologize for his underwhelming performance, but a chorus of boos drowned out his comments.

John Hathaway and Michael Bisping won unanimous decisions, as did Dong Hyun Kim and Efrain Escudero on the Spike-televised portion of the undercard.

Bisping earned the favor of the judges by winning the standup action against Dan Miller. A submission specialist, Miller rarely attempted takedowns and allowed Bisping to establish his right hand, particularly in the second round.

Melvin Guillard and Cyrille Diabate won by knockout, and Ryan Jensen submitted Jesse Forbes in the first round.

Aaron Riley rounded out the undercard with a unanimous decision over Joe Brammer.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.