Fans have been clamoring to see a superfight between UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva and former light heavyweight title holder Rashad Evans for months now.
On a conference call for UFC 156, “Suga” again flirted with the idea, but despite making a bold proclamation, refused to commit a drop to the middleweight division just yet.
MMA Weekly was the first major media outlet to provide a transcription from the conference call on Monday afternoon.
“I believe I can beat Anderson Silva, and I believe that the skills that I have is something he’d have hard time dealing with, but to compete against the guy, first and foremost, would be an honor in and of itself.”
Evans is regarded as one of the best wrestlers in MMA, so his takedowns coupled with high-level submission defense and striking would present an interesting challenge for Silva.
“The Spider” is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, but he clearly does his best work standing up with his opponents, scoring 20 knockouts in 33 professional wins.
Without coming out and saying it outright, the former Michigan State wrestler implied that he isn’t interested in testing out the middleweight waters unless his first fight at 185-pounds is against the pound-for-pound great.
“I’m already at the top of my division and for me to go down to 185 is kind of like now I’ve got to start over and prove myself at 185. Because I am good at 205, but who is to say I’d be the same fighter at 185 when I cut that weight? There’s a lot of variables that can come into play.”
Evans also indicated that he walks around as heavy as 235 pounds in between fights, so cutting down to middleweight could be pretty challenging at 33-years-old.
The Blackzilian co-founder currently has his plate full with Silva’s Black House teammate, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Still, with a definitive victory over “Lil’ Nog” at UFC 156, set for Feb. 2, pundits will be begging to know what Evans’ next move is.
Given the fall of recent middleweight contenders Tim Boetsch, Alan Belcher and Michael Bisping, the timing seems perfect for an Evans-Silva showdown this summer.