By Matt Boone on January 30, 2007 at 1:40 AM EST

The following are excerpts of an interview with Rashad Evans, conducted by MMANews.com's own Luis Cruz yesterday (January 29, 2007). If you would rather listen to the interview, you can download it (MP3 format, 6MB in size) by clicking here.

Luis Cruz of MMANews.com: This is Luis Cruz here at MMANews.com, I'm joined now by UFC Light Heavyweight contender Rashad Evans. Rashad, or should I say "Sugar" Rashad Evans? What's up man?

Rashad Evans: [laughs] How you doing man?

MMANews.com: I'm doing alright. What's up with this "Sugar" thing?

Rashad Evans: Ahh, it's just a nickname that my trainers came up with because they say I move like "Sugar" Ray Robinson.

MMANews.com: Oh I thought it was because you're "sweet" [laughs]

Rashad Evans: [laughs] Oh yeah, that too!

MMANews.com: Alright man, you fought four days ago [and got the] impressive knockout [over Sean Salmon], how you feeling?

Rashad Evans: I'm feeling good man. I'm feeling real good. I was working on some things all camp and just to see them come together and pay off, that's as good as it goes.


[break in the interview, new excerpt ahead]


MMANews.com: Now was your game plan to set up that high kick that you were - you threw about two of them in the first round and obviously that knockout one [in the second]. Was that your game plan to throw a couple of punches and then set up that kick?

Rashad Evans: Yeah, I was working on it all camp. They were saying, set up the high kick because he's susceptible to it. That's what I was doing, but I was going to the well too many times trying to get my timing down on it. But I knew I was going to catch him with it sooner or later. When he came out in that second round and he was tired, I was like "ooh, I got him", I smelt it. And I just thought I'm gonna destroy this dude this round. He came out the second round and he's standing up and I'm looking across the ring and he was waiving his arms up, you know, trying to get the crowd into it. I was like, I know he's tired because I remember seeing him at the end of the first period, he was breathing out of his mouth real heavy and he wasn't really moving well anymore. I was like "aww, he's tired" and I was like why ain't he sitting down? In the start of the second round he came out and touched my glove and he kind of took a step back and he got kind of relaxed and he looked real slow, so I was like I'm gonna kill this dude this round.

MMANews.com: Now he did expend a lot of energy when he took you down in the first round and he started working a little bit of a ground and pound there. You started working to get up and you obviously got up to your feet, I think that was a point where he expended most of his energy.

Rashad Evans: Yeah. I get a lot of practice on the ground, man. A lot of times in practice I start off on the ground and let my teammates, you know, they work in their positioning and I'm working with Keith Jardine and Nate Marquardt and those guys and they're strong as hell and really good. So, when I was on the bottom with him [Salmon] I was like "ok, I've been here before" and I was just going to take my time in getting up and see what he's got. Then I was like "ok, now I'm up again." The first time he took me down I attributed it to the kick because he caught me with a kick and I was like "ok", but then the second time I was like "ok, this dude's got some good takedowns" I was like "whoa!"

MMANews.com: Now, you got the huge knockout. Obviously it's very early in the year but that is the knockout of the year, thus far and it probably will hold for a little while. That was impressive. Now, he was down for how long? At least ten minutes after that?

Rashad Evans: Yeah. He didn't walk out of the ring on his own accord, he came out on a stretcher. And that was the real scary part. It was all entertainment and fun, and we put our bodies on the line, you really never prepare yourself to see one of your opponents or anyone leaving on a stretcher.


[break in the interview, new excerpt ahead]


MMANews.com: Alright, I'm going to shift gears here real quick. I've read a quote from another interview I guess you did recently right before your fight. Actually, I didn't write the quote down but it said, they quoted you as saying you would knock Rampage [Quinton Jackson] out, is that true did you say that?

Rashad Evans: No, I didn't say it quite like that. Somebody asked me "what do you think of Rampage" and I was like Rampage is my man, and I've got a tremendous amount of respect for him, I'm a big fan of his. And they were like "ok, if you had to fight him, what would you do?" and I said I'd have to knock Rampage out.


[break in the interview, new excerpt ahead]


MMANews.com: Alright, back to the fight. At the post-fight presser, there was a couple of rumblings about a conversation between you and Dana [White]. I guess the media asked him something about you and [Keith] Jardine fighting?

Rashad Evans: Uh-huh.

MMANews.com: Could you tell us exactly what was said there?

Rashad Evans: Umm, somebody asked Dana or they said, "Rashad, are you going to fight Keith?" and I said, "no, I'm not fighting Keith" and Dana was like "yeah, you're gonna fight Keith" and I said "I'm not gonna fight Keith", you know? That was basically it. He was telling me we're gonna fight and I was telling him I won't fight him.

MMANews.com: Now what if they actually...I don't know if it was in a joking manner or what with Dana, he's hard to read but let's say he puts the contracts down to you guys - what happens?

Rashad Evans: I don't do it. I don't do it. I don't fight my family, I don't fight people that I train with day in and day out - that I go through trials and tribulations with, you know? I don't do it. There's not enough money that's worth that, you know what I mean? Because you can spend money and everything else but you can't recover that friendship and that love that you lost, you know?


[break in the interview, new excerpt ahead]


MMANews.com: Now would you guys actually put your careers on the line, like if he threatened to get rid of you guys if you didn't fight each other?

Rashad Evans: Nah, I don't think he would do something like that. But, no he'll ask for it and people will probably want to see it, but if it came to the point where you're number one and I'm number two or vice-versa, or our paths have to cross for one of us to get a title shot, then I would switch weight classes or just avoid it altogether, you know what I'm saying?

MMANews.com: I don't think that's really necessary. But obviously you guys are both up there in the Light Heavyweight division now with impressive wins, but I mean Babalu [Renato Sobral] is still out there, Tito Ortiz is still out there, I mean they got options here. I don't see why they would actually have to make this fight.

Rashad Evans: Yeah, I mean the thing about UFC and they've been really good at whatever they do and their marketing, they have excellent marketing and they do a great job of bringing people fights that they want to see. And that's something that's maybe tempting to them just because it's something they can actually cash in on and people would wanna see it, but at the same time it's at our expense. I don't think we'd do it.

To read the full transcript of the interview, CLICK HERE.

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