Rashad Evans upsets Chuck Liddell at UFC 88

Rashad Evans was fighting for respect.  He didn’t scream about “demanding respect” in his prefight interviews because he’s smart enough to know that respect must be earned.  He earned it and then some with a devastating 2nd round TKO of Chuck Liddell in the main event of UFC 88: Breakthrough.

If Evans needed any more validation of how little respect he was getting, he could have taken a look at the UFC’s text message “prediction” poll of the main event which favored “The Iceman” by a whopping 81% to 19% margin.  Or he could have listened to the UFC announcers, who had all but penciled Liddell in for a return to light heavyweight title contention after his “inevitable victory”. Still, Evans never whined about being “disrespected” as is commonplace among professional athletes in the “stick and ball” sports.  He let his fists do the talking and with a perfectly placed overhand right will likely never have to worry about a lack of respect again.

From the opening horn, Evans showed no fear of Liddell’s once legendary power.  Instead, he danced and moved (which was dumbly criticized as “showboating” by the UFC announce team), using his slick footwork and speed to dart in and out of range of Liddell’s punches.   In the process, he was able to use his superior handspeed to get off first.  His punches weren’t exactly “highlight reel” power shots at this point, but were nonetheless effective as evidenced by a cut opened under Liddell’s eye. For his part, Liddell scored with a few shots of his own, but was clearly frustrated by the evasiveness of his opponent.

Evans’ “highlight reel” power shot was to come in the 2nd round.  Liddell backed Evans up near the cage wall and went to throw an uppercut.  Simultaneously, Evans responded with an overhand right that landed quicker, harder and more accurately.  The perfectly placed punch knocked Liddell out cold and referee Herb Dean jumped in to cover him up and wave off the fight without taking a second look.  Evans KO was one of the most devastating in the history of the sport, and made all the more so by the status of the man on the receiving end.

Rashad Evans raised his record to 17-0-1, with the lone blemish a draw against Tito Ortiz at UFC 73. Liddell, meanwhile, saw his record drop to 21-6—with three of those six losses coming in his last 4 fights.