Chael Sonnen and Rashad Evans Target UFC 167 Co-Main Event; Will UFC Make It Happen?
Chael Sonnen has been working every angle he could think of to entice Wanderlei Silva into a fight, but now that anything with the “Axe Murderer” appears to be off the table for the foreseeable future, the “Gangster from West Linn” has shifted gears.
Recent conversation focused on Phil Davis as a possible substitute for Silva – a fight that intrigued UFC president Dana White – but that's not the target.
Sonnen’s sights are now focused on former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, who seems to be receptive to the offer.
Twitter has become the matchmaking tool of choice of late, and Sonnen has employed the social media forum numerous times to try and drum up a fight. It worked for Roy Nelson and Daniel Cormier recently, so why not Sonnen and Evans?
“Hey Rashad, let me ask you a question… You busy Nov 16th?” Sonnen tweeted Thursday night.
His fellow UFC Tonight contributor quickly responded, “Nah not really!! What's up?”
Sonnen then fired back with a graphic of a UFC 167 fight poster featuring a Sonnen vs. Evans co-main event in support of the Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks headliner on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas.
Evans was immediately receptive to the proposal.
“That looks like a good idea to me!” he tweeted. “I knew you had something you really wanted to say to me yesterday on the show!”
The fight makes sense. Evans is coming off of a victory over Dan Henderson after back-to-back losses to Rogerio Nogueira and Jon Jones. Sonnen is in much the same boat, recently defeating Shogun Rua after losing to Jones and Anderson Silva.
UFC 167, which serves as the promotion’s 20th Anniversary show, is also still in need of a marquee co-main event… Chael Sonnen vs. Rashad Evans would fit that bill.
But even though they may want the fight and it may make sense, that’s far from making the bout a reality. Dana White has yet to comment on the possible match-up, but it’s certainly a huge step in the direction of the Octagon.
(Poster courtesy of @sonnench)
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