Rashad Evans had an "awkward" exchange with UFC President Dana White last night during the post-fight press conference for UFC Fight Night 8, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Apparently, the light heavyweight is adamant that he will not fight his friend and training partner Keith Jardine anytime soon. "Never," actually, was the word he used.
Here's a snip:
Perhaps the most interesting exchange took place after the show at the press conference. When a reporter asked about a prospective match with Evans vs. Keith Jardine, who made a name for himself by knocking out Forrest Griffin on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas, UFC President Dana White said that sounded like a great idea. Evans shot back that he trains regularly with Jardine in Albuquerque, and he would never fight him. White said that if he made the match, he'd fight him. Evans shot back that he would not, and the awkward exchange ended at that point.
In 2005, Evans and Jardine clashed during season two of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) as heavyweights. Evans won the semifinal bout via unanimous decision en route to winning the title for that season of the show.
It's safe to say that Evans and Jardine didn't have the relationship now that they did then. Even if they did, there would have been no way around fighting one another.
Things are certainly different now. Both fighters are atop the UFC light heavyweight division and are putting themselves into position for a title shot in the near future.
Evans is fresh of a vicious knockout of Sean Salmon at UFC Fight Night 8 last night. I still can't believe the way in which that high kick crumbled Salmon. It's a highlight that we will see, most likely, 10,000 more times at least in the future.
As for Jardine, he stopped Forrest Griffin at UFC 66 and looked impressive doing it. The win instantly vaulted him into the 205-pound contender discussion.
Clearly, training together at the Greg Jackson camp is working wonders for these two. And a fight between them would be tremendous.
If they keep winning, I find it hard to believe that they can't put their friendship aside if it means that one of them will one day have an opportunity to face Chuck Liddell for the 205-pound belt.
Time will tell.