UFC: Evans, Sonnen win fights on Fox
CHICAGO — For a man who had just earned a chance to reclaim his Ultimate Fighting Championship belt by winning in dominant fashion on network television, Rashad Evans wasn’t exactly in a jovial mood Saturday night.
Evans controlled Phil Davis for nearly the entire five rounds and won by unanimous decision in the main event of the UFC on Fox 2 card at the United Center. Evans never came particularly close to finishing the fight, however, and didn’t provide a lot of fireworks in front of what is expected to be the organization’s largest-ever TV audience.
"I’m happy I got the win, but I wanted to do better," he said. "I wanted to put on a more spectacular win for the Chicago fans and for the Fox fans. I didn’t do it like I wanted to or like I envisioned myself doing it."
Evans was hardly alone in delivering a less-than-scintillating performance.
Chael Sonnen edged Michael Bisping by unanimous decision to likely earn another middleweight title shot, and unbeaten Chris Weidman won a unanimous decision over Demian Maia in a fight in which both middleweights were completely exhausted by the third and final round.
While Evans was upset with his lack of a finish, he left no question who was the better fighter Saturday. The former champion felt going into the fight his experience in headlining bouts would give him a big edge over Davis, one of the top prospects in the division who entered the fight unbeaten and basically untested.
"He just helped me understand where I’m at," Davis said.
Evans took control from the outset. Though few strikes were landed in the opening minutes, he was more confident in the standup exchanges as expected against the elite wrestler.
Evans really took control when he caught a Davis kick and took him to the ground before working into a dominant crucifix position. The second round was almost a repeat of the first as Evans caught a kick and took down Davis.
The final three rounds were more of the same, only without the catching of the kicks. Davis was never able to mount much of an attack.
Evans now most likely will fight Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 145 in Atlanta on April 21. It is a fight that has been supposed to take place since Jones first won the title in March 2011. Evans said it will be a relief to finally step in the cage against his former close friend and training partner.
There’s no love lost between Sonnen and middleweight champion Anderson Silva, either. With his win, Sonnen likely earned a second shot at Silva’s belt. But it didn’t come easily for Sonnen, who battled through two very close rounds before easily winning the third.
"I knew we were in the middle of a close fight," Sonnen said. "I knew I needed to win the third round. I had a sense of urgency for sure."
Bisping was able to get up each time Sonnen got a takedown. He also proved to be nearly Sonnen’s equal in the clinch, doing good work up against the cage.
When they did get a chance to exchange on their feet, Bisping was the better fighter.
"Bisping hit me so hard, I didn’t even know what day it was," Sonnen said. "I was never in position where I was comfortable. It was 15 awkward minutes."
It was the second time in Bisping’s career he has come up short in a No. 1 contender fight. He also lost to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 in July 2009.
Bisping vowed he would bounce back and not only earn a title shot one day, but win the belt.
Weidman, one of the top middleweight prospects, raised his record to 8-0 by outstriking Maia throughout the three rounds and staying out of trouble the few times he took down his opponent.
Both fighters looked completely gassed midway through, but Weidman had a good reason. He took the fight on short notice and had to cut 32 pounds in 10 days. Maia’s performance was not as forgivable.
All of the fireworks came from the undercard, which aired on Fuel TV.
Charles Oliveira impressed in his featherweight debut by providing one of the best submissions in recent memory when he tapped Eric Wisely with the obscure calf slicer. Also, Lavar Johnson knocked out Joey Beltran in a heavyweight bout.
Chicago police officer Mike Russow pleased the hometown fans with a decision victory over John-Olav Einemo, though he gave the crowd few chances to really get into the fight.
Michael Johnson, Cub Swanson, Chris Camozzi and Las Vegan Evan Dunham all picked up wins as well.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
