UFC 108 Prediction: Rashad Evans Will Be Beaten & Battered By Thiago Silva

The most cursed card in UFC history is just around the corner. UFC 108, which takes place Saturday, has seen more fighters pull out of fights due to illness and injury than any other card to date. One fighter even dropped off the card to film a movie. That fighter is Fighters.com sixth-ranked light heavyweight “Rampage” Quinton Jackson (28-7) who was scheduled to face fourth-ranked “Sugar” Rashad Evans (13-1-1) after their heated exchanges on SpikeTV’s The Ultimate Fighter 10. The UFC was smart enough to instead give Rashad tenth-ranked Thiago Silva (15-1) to fight in the main event. Sadly for Rashad this is a fight he will not win and his shot at fighting Rampage will be ruined.

Rashad is a fighter that started out has a pure wrestler and has since found a stand up game that he used to beat Fighters.com eighth-ranked light heavyweight “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-7) and fifth-ranked Forrest Griffin. He did this using patience and counter strikes mixed with his footwork. Rashad’s footwork is not very technical rather it is more natural as is his balance which comes from his wrestling background.

Thiago Silva is a fighter that uses controlled aggression to push the fight and force exchanges with his opponent. These exchanges is where he excels. Silva will try to get Evans to trade with him so he can use his short straight punches to hurt Evans. Thiago throws some of the straightest punches in mixed martial arts (MMA). Silva will have to temper this agregssion and become very patient going against Evans as Rashad can frustrate even the most patient fighter.

Rashad bob and weaves and uses the aforementioned footwork to lull his opponents into frustration. Once they decide to press the action he lets them inside and unloads one of his power punches that is well timed and perfectly placed. This is something he will need to do in order to win this fight but as I already mentioned, that will not happen.

Here is how I see the fight going. Both fighters will come out looking to feel each other out. Silva will throw some jabs and small combinations to see how Rashad will react and move. Rashad will be moving, staying just on the ouyside so that he can counter. This will go on for the most of the first round until Silva decides he has the distance and timing down and is tired of waiting and will push the fight. The round will end with Silva and Evans trading punches and Silva getting the better of the exchanges.

Round two starts and right away Silva will try to get back to the exchanges. Rashad will do everything he can to move out of the way and use his angles to counter. Eventually Thiago will cut Evans off and unload on him leading to a whirlwind exchange. This is where Rashad does not want to be because his punches are the wide looping kind and as I already mentioned, Silva throws very straight punches. You can imagine who will get hit first in this exchange. Straight punches have the shorter distance and as we all know, Silva has power in those hands.

Rashad may think about the take down at this time but that may not be the best idea as Silva has a very good, albeit underrated ground game. After all, Silva has a black belt in Jiu Jitsu under Macaco. He used to teach Jiu Jitsu in Brazil before becoming a professional MMA fighter

This is where I see Silva hurting Evans and possibly looking to take him down to the ground and punish him. Typically Rashad would be able to defend take downs from Silva unless he just out muscled Rashad. However, having eaten some big punches from Silva, he will find himself on the mat being beaten and battered until the ref stops the fight.

This is MMA so anything can happen but I feel confident in the fact that Silva will be to much for Rashad to handle. The only thing that beats Silva in this fight his himself. If he tries to push the action to hard and to fast, throwing with reckless abandon one of those looping punches of Rashad’s may just land and put his lights out. I find this highly unlikely though.

The end of UFC 108 will leave us with a Rashad Evans who is on a serious slide with many questioning his ability to compete with the best in the division and a Thiago Silva hunting for another shot at the elusive “Dragon” Lyoto Machida (16-0). The fans will also be left with joy as the cursed card is finally over and all of us can start to look towards UFC 109.

Do you feel I am wrong about this fight or have I somehow overlooked something? Feel free to join myself and co-host New York Gary Friedman on MMA Gospel Radio every Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel. There is a live MMA chat where you can talk to other fans as well as myself. Not good enough for you? You can also call into the show by dialing the guest line at 347-857-1337 or email me personally at turk@fighters.com