Rashad Evans

CTL-E-7128 · Person · other · contemporary

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-08000 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7128.

Rashad Evans (born September 25, 1979, in Niagara Falls, New York) is an American retired mixed martial artist, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, and a 2019 inductee of the UFC Hall of Fame's Modern Wing. A wrestler first, Evans won the 2000 NJCAA national championship at 165 pounds for Niagara County Community College, then wrestled three seasons at Michigan State, graduating in 2003. He won The Ultimate Fighter 2's heavyweight tournament in 2005, dropped to light heavyweight, and knocked out Chuck Liddell at UFC 88 in September 2008. On December 27, 2008, at UFC 92, Evans stopped Forrest Griffin in the third round to win the light heavyweight title — the first UFC title fight between two Ultimate Fighter winners. He lost the belt in his first defense, to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98, later beat Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 114 after their season as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 10, and lost a 2012 title challenge to Jon Jones. Evans retired in June 2018 after a final loss at UFC 225, closing a UFC career of 14–8–1.

The record

• Also known as: Suga

Notes

Record counting, shown rather than blended: professional databases list Evans at 19–8–1 overall; the UFC's Hall of Fame citation counts 24–8–1 including his Ultimate Fighter tournament bouts. The description states his UFC mark (14–8–1), on which both counts agree. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Evans carried the reality-show generation to a championship and a Hall of Fame jacket; his Griffin win — two Ultimate Fighter winners fighting for a world title — marks how completely the sport had changed by 2008. Photo: CLEARED — Rashad Evans joins Fleet Week Miami 2024 (2) (cropped).jpg, Public domain (U.S. Navy).

Relationships

• Quinton Jackson — related to
  Rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 10 (2009), a feud that headlined UFC 114 on May 29, 2010, where Evans won by unanimous decision — one of the era's signature grudge matches.

Sources

• Michigan State Athletics, “Wrestling Alum Rashad Evans Named to UFC Hall of Fame” (May 20, 2019); accessed 2026-11-04 (primary source · build store)
• Fightful, “Rashad Evans To Be Inducted Into 2019 UFC Hall Of Fame” (May 2019, carrying the UFC announcement); accessed 2026-11-04 (build store)
• MN2S talent roster, “Rashad Evans”; accessed 2026-11-04 (build store)

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Record CTL-E-7128 · Combined Graph record U-08000 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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