I like Irvin’s chances in this fight, but gotta agree with his outlook. Evans is thought to be in the highest teir of fighters @ 205, but Id put him @ a ‘B’ class, not ‘A.’

Wow talk about eating your humble pie.

I agree with Luppers..Evans for me is a second teir fighter and i my opinion a far cry from a main event fighter,he does have a good record in the UFC but for me is a boring fighter to watch.I think irvin will give him a good run for is money.

Props to Irvin for not trying to create a bogus beef with a guy he’s fighting just because they’re supposed to fight each other. I’ll definitely be cheering for Irvin in this fight.

Irvin sounds more pathetic than classy to me with his whole “I’m not worthy” speech. He needs his “I’ll fight you on street” attitude back. I thought Evans lost against bisping and tito. He’s a wrestler who gets winded easily and does not know any submission holds. In reality Rashad is a low B level fighter.

IMO, I would rather see these two headline and it be on spike than have thiago and hughes headline and have to pay $45 for it.

it’s great to write posts here and half of them never even show up

I’ll be rooting for Irvin but Rashad should be able to wrestle him to a decision. Boring

I like Irvin in this fight, and I like his humbleness and honest opinion of himself

Wow, honesty from a fighter is such a breath of fresh air. Big ups to Irvin.

mad respect for irvin!! but i agree with everyone in the fact that evans isn’t a A fighter. maybe a top B, but i think he still needs to prove himself. he got lucky with tito and barely beat bisping.

but look at it from evans’ point of view. he goes from being main event to an undercard (viewed), but still, he must be pissed!

So I guess I’m the only one picking Evans to win. Like him or not, he doesn’t lose. He always seems to gas but puts forth enough to get the W. For those who say he got lucky against Tito, had Tito not held the fence he would have been taken down and that probably would have been Rashad’s round and fight. His fights haven’t been dominant but his record is impressive, and I’d like to see him fight a higher up guy after Irvin. Perhaps loser of Wandi/Jardine (I’m guessing Jardine) or Matt Hammill.

nice humility by james irvin, but i think rashad will gonna whoop his *ss 85%

Classy. Maybe Shad can make an exciting fight for once.

I totally did not excpect Irvine to be so humble., just made me respect for him that much more. Goodluck to the two of you may god keep you guys safe so that we your fans can enjoy watching you guys for a long time.

i’m sorry, but there’s a difference between being humble and having inferior pride. he might not be giving himself as much credit as he deserves. i think he’s better than he’s giving himself credit for.

Irvin is the smartest person in the UFC.

Seriously.
How many more fans did he just get from saying all that.

Is this card on PPV now?

I think he’s trying to lull Rashad to sleep….but I don’t think he has to. I think he’s more well rounded.

rashaad really only started to get buzz after he finally finished those 2 fights, he looked good ground and pounding jason lambert and got lucky with that head kick over Salmon ( he was getting out wrestled in that fight) now he’s coming off a draw and a split dec. so essentially 2 draws. other than that he is a decision fighter, who imo is boring to watch

Im ready for another James Irvin highlight reel.

WOW!!! I respect him for saying that…. But to be honest Evans spent 3 rounds trying to cuddle Bisping so i don’t rate him at all.

Liddell vs. Shogun

now..

Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin

Yikes.

this is a tricky fight….Irvin has the power to put Rashad to sleep, plus Irvin is a strong guy anyway…I’ve seen some of his fights where he came it at a ripped 220 lbs…I dont know what this talk is about him moving to middle weight, the guy should stay at Light heavy, but he thinks hes too short. If he can stuff Rashad’s takedowns and stike with him and land some big shots, I think Irvin can win, and hes got decent BJJ.

Like many of you, I feel Rashad’s career has been carefully planned.

What I like best about Irvin though, is the fact he is MAN ENOUGH to pubilicly show such respect for a fellow fighter. Impressive. Many others could learn a thing or two from this guy.

Rashad is not a top 5 competitor
Does anyone fink he can compete with Chuck, Rampage, Hendo(if he moves back up), Wanderlei, Lyoto, even Forrest or Jardine
He only looks good cause Tito gassed and cheated and Bisping was under sized
Hope Irvin beats him and all his hype

WHAT IF….

Wanderlei Silva beats Keith Jardine, and Irvin beats Evans, would anyone like to see Wanderlei Silva Vs. James Irvin?
I would.

This too humble approach is never good for the cage. I’m not sure I like this “thanks for even getting in the cage with me” mentality. It’s like he’s expecting to lose.

At least he should have said something like "I’m really happy he took the fight, etc etc. “but I will make him pay for taking it”.

Don’t make Rashad’s head bigger than it is. This guy is not “A” level by any means. Truth is he needs to lose. I think an undefeated record is more of a curse for a fighter than a good thing. They dwell on it too much mentality, it’s human nature.

It’s too bad Irvin feels this way because it sounds like he has already lost the fight. The sad thing is that Evans is not even close to an “A” level fighter. Irvin has a great shot at beating him if he goes into the fight with a confidence.

Evans is very over-hyped. He may be undefeated but look at who he has fought. Basically, TUF fighters and Tito Ortiz. And by now everyone should realize that Ortiz isn’t even in the top 10 anymore. The other thing is that he hasn’t exactly looked good getting these wins. Who ever heard of 3 split decisions, 1 majority decision, and a draw in 17 fights? Those came against Tito Ortiz (either one of them could have won this fight easily if they had done ANYTHING in the last round), Michael Bisping, Stephan Bonner, SAM HOGER and BRAD IMES!

The bottom line is that Evans is a chump and his record has been padded by weak opponents. Bisping is the only opponent that may make something of himself. As soon as the UFC starts putting Evans in with top level fighters he is going to be destroyed. It’s too bad Liddell was injured. Irvin can do it too though if his mind is right.

evans is a b level.. a best

Rashad is gonna come swinging and KO Irvin

I think this is just mind games from Irvin in an attempt to put all the pressure on Rashad. I’ll be cheering the sandman, but I think Rashad is A level although he aint the most exciting. I just cant see anyone getting an easy ride against rashad.

I think Irving is gonna KO Rashad. Especially if he does that head showboating thing.

Respect to Irvin for not talking like a dick. How down to earth for a change. I’d like to see him KTFO Evans- A fighter who really is lucky to be rated so high but be so average. Unfortunately if Irvin doesn’t KO Evans I can see Evans using the “lay and pray winner by unanimous boredom!” approach. What else has he got. Everyone going to say “but that head kick against……..” IT WAS A FLUKE!! Trust me has he ever done it before/since? Thankyou one and all ha ha :)

so, a fighter having a realistic perspective on his standing due to his record is “admitting he’s going to lose”?

So what, he should be as deluded as Gary Shaw when he claims Cung Le’s the top middleweight on the planet?

Irvin says nothing about his thoughts on his chances in the fight. He’s just giving an honest appraisal of where he stands in relation to Rashad. Rashad could have looked at: “First I was fighting Lidell, a win over whom would put me in the top 5, now I’m offered a fight with Irvin, who’s barely back into the ufc’s gatekeep division, a fight that doesn’t raise my stock worth a damn if i win, but drops me heavily if I lose? Fuck that!”. But he accepted the fight, which is a move worthy of praise, and Irvin’s logical assessment of reality is admirable.

Who ever said that a fighter cannot be objective about his standing without that objectivity impeding his training and focus? I think his acceptance of the situation is crucial to him developing a proper game plan.

What, you want them to all play the same damn bullshit game of claiming they’re the best fighter in the world? Then they’re all going to look like asshats when they eventually lose. Irvin’s comments reveal a very strong state of mind, to admit the facts to himself, and be confident and man enough to say so to the world. Props to him.

Very humble so I am impressed but it sounds like he has already lost in his mind….

Irvin Only did this to make it harder for Rashad to trash talk with him. Rashad needs to talk trash to get him mentally prepared, now he can’t do that or if he tries he just looks like an ass and loses a bunch of fans.

God I hate Evans, I hate BIsbing very much as all know, but Evans is the only one that tops him.
THis makes me hate him even more, a fighter giving him such respect, makes me sick.

Respect to Irvin though, and I hope he murders Evans.

I really hope IRVIN IS JUST SAYIN THIS TO PLAY MIND GAMES WITH THAT OVERRATED RASHAD, SO RASHAD MIND TAKE HIM LIGHTLY THINKIN HE’LL RUN THROUGH HIM. I SAY IRVIN BY HIGHLIGHT REEL KO ROUND 1

could someone answer a question for me. To be an A level fighter, do you have to be entertaining, or win fights? Because it seems pretty evident that most believe you need to be entertaining.

if sandman can keep it on the feet this could be fight of the night, this card is stacked now, i was thinking previously 84 made this card look week but its looking exciting now.

Yall who say Evans is not an A level fighter. Well I think I his. He’s undeafeated and fought good compitition. (Ortiz,Bisbing,Lambert,). Is he gonna win a title, or I think fight for a title. No. But that dont mean he is not A level. Guys who are top 15 in the world at their weight class deserve more respect.

I won’t even waste my time watching Evans. I’ll catch it later on fast forward. It doesn’t even look like he’s fighting. It looks more like some kind of super intense La-bamba, where one of the moves is the girl drags the dude to the ground and then they bounce around for a bit.

I wouldn’t write off Evans at all. The guy trains in Greg Jackson’s camp… so that means with Georges St. Pierre, Keith Jardine, Nate Marquardt, … Sherdog also mentions that fighters coming out of the camp have a win percentage of 79%.

On the other hand, Irvin has good standup but susceptible to submissions such as his loss to Stephan Bonnar.

The only way I can see Irvin winning is with a superman punch. See what happens – it might get closer than Sean Salmon’s “Dragon Kick”.

I wouldn’t write off Evans at all. The guy trains in Greg Jackson’s camp… so that means with Georges St. Pierre, Keith Jardine, Nate Marquardt, … Sherdog also mentions that fighters coming out of the camp have a win percentage of 79%.

On the other hand, Irvin has good standup but susceptible to submissions such as his loss to Stephan Bonnar.

The only way I can see Irvin winning is with a superman punch. See what happens – it might get closer than Sean Salmon’s “Dragon Kick”!

well rashad may be undefeated but he is just a boring
fighter to watch. he has one good knock out(not a big name) and the rest of his fights are boring as hell. if he fought anyone like shogun, liddell, machida, rampage he would get his ass handed to him. i would never call this guy an A level fighter. for a guy that drags a fight to decision, he shouldn’t be considered A class

you don’t get paid to stop fights, you get paid to win fights.

I think that was a very classy move by Irvin. Evans is a good fighter with good hands and head movement and good wrestling, he just needs to be more aggressive and he will get far. I hear people talking about he is not a top fighter, but I bet if you trained with him you will have a different outlook. This fighting game is hard and it takes alot of time and pain and dedication so before you judge any fighter look at the road they travel before you open your mouth (especially if you are not a fighter yourself)

k well u go ahead and keep defending evans. i will say what ever i feel like about a fighter. i didnt say he wasnt a dedicated fighter. i just said his fights are boring and he is not a Class A fighter in my eyes. you must have missed alot of his fights if you disagree with that. i dont care if you like him or not, i am just voicing my opinion

It’s not a fact of me liking Rashad, for me it’s the fact that we as mma fans, for the most part believe that you need to be entertaining to be A class. most of the time my self included. Here is why I bring this up, we the fans have been saying that some fighters have been giving mma a bad name. I agree to a certain extent. But I believe we as fans are giving mma a bad rap as well, we in my opinion, may be causing the newest fans to believe that you need to be entertaining to be A class. I agree you need to be exciting. I also agree he needs to do a lot better job at that. I personally am not a big fan I don’t hate him though. I just want us as fans to understand, that our sport is young, and so are many of the fans and they are also very impressionable. Tim Sylvia is an A level fighter, but lacks excitement, so we could show the difference between the two, while also showing the perfect model, of a great fighter who is also entertaining.

B y all means we are entitled to our opinions, I would never want to give the impression, that I didn’t believe that.

I am not a huge fan of Rashad, thats not my point at all. I just want to get us as fans to step back and look for a second. Being entertaining is very important to marketing the UFC, and causing fans to get behind you. My point is that we have been saying some fighters have been giving MMA a bad name, for the most part I agree. I also think we as fans (myself included) may be sending the wrong impression. Our sport is very young, and so are many fans, which are also very impressionable since our sport is young. We may very well be teaching that being entertaining is what makes you A class. I believe we have a unique opportunity, to show the difference between the two, as well as the perfect model fighter who wins and is entertaining. We can also show that you can be an A class fighter and boring. Tim Sylvia is an A class fighter, yet very boring.

In no way do I want to give the impression, that I believe people don’t have their right to an opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.

whats up