What's gone wrong for Rashad lately?

The Natural Born Runner

The Natural Born Runner

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Very curious to know the wider opinion of you guys on Rashad at the moment.

I was away over the weekend and didn't see the immediate fallout after the loss.

Here's my opinion - for those who want a short read, just stop after the numbered points:

1. I don't think Rashad has ever had a good chin. Silva, Rampage, Jones, Machida and Hendo all hurt him.
2. I think leading off of point #1 he is 36. A lot of tough fights and sparring hours in a 12 year career.
3. The injuries have slowed him considerably. He's still quick, but he used to be lightening.
4. His swagger is gone. He no longer fights with comfort, and brashness - looks afraid of losing.
5. His name is too big for his own good. He needs warm-up fights, he's facing top 5 talent.
6. The guy was out for 2 and 1 year periods with serious injuries.
7. The division is well rounded now. Top boys don't have weaknesses in his strengths.

Quick summary of my points:

He's only been KO'd twice, but when he gets caught he stumbles. He seems very easy to put on skates, and even in fights like Silva, Hendo, Jackson where he looked fine, he finds a way to get caught.

Division is very thin - Jones and Alex are young, Glover and DC are Evans' age - but they've been in less wars and had much less injuries over their career.

He was always first to the punch with his speed, doesn't seem to be the case now.

Confidence was always key, self-belief is gone, possibly due to the injuries causing depression etc. had a divorce also I believe. Losing to Bader who is a poor version of yourself must have not helped.

With him being former champion, TUF coach, part of one of the biggest grudge matches ever - he is too famous to not fight the name-brand guys. Evans vs Cummins or Manuwa doesn't do good business.

People think long lay-offs are just fine, because Cruz can do it. 3 whole years off of fighting over 2 injuries is a long time, and it's a testament to how bad the injuries were. Look at Shogun, injuries ruined his career!

Evans on paper has elite wrestling and strong hands, but his size disadvantage against Alex, Jones and DC is considerable, they also have the skills to nullify his. AJ a teammate, and Glover just a bad match-up. Evans' skills are not longer "stand-out", everyone has good wrestling and hands at 205.

Thoughts?
 
Age caught up with him imo. And after that latest interview he did I don't think he should continue fighting.

He should turn to coaching instead.
 
Ice bear thinks it's a combination of losing his quickness, confidence and swagger.
 
He's just old man, it happens. He should have a few fights against fringe 10 guys or other aged vets and hang it up soon
 
He definitely relied on his speed in his prime...once you lose something you used to take for granted...you can spontaneously fall off.
 
He's been fighting in MMA for over a decade, had multiple injuries, and been brutally KO'd before.


It's not a secret, wear and tear took a toll on him.
 
The Natural Born Runner said:
Evans on paper has elite wrestling and strong hands, but his size disadvantage against Alex, Jones and DC is considerable, they also have the skills to nullify his. AJ a teammate, and Glover just a bad match-up. Evans' skills are not longer "stand-out", everyone has good wrestling and hands at 205.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with your other points, but something to note here is that Glover is also bigger than DC and probably even bigger than Jones and Gus in mass. Glover cuts like 30 lbs to make 205, he's a stud.
 
He's 36, but he's a damn old 36. He's also had a lot of injuries.
 
2-3 yrs of being injured and not being able to improve in training never helps. Especially at his age.
 
You said it all in point 2. He's fought for 12 years and he's 36 years old. End of story.
 
He's not confident in himself anymore. He's realizing his body isn't doing what his mind is telling it to do, as quickly as before. He was denial before but after the Glover fight, reality was setting in.
 
He's a fighter that relies heavily on being in state. Being in the flow. And he was not in that state. He is thinking too much, he needs to be more calm and in the moment. He needs to meditate.
 
Once Glover put Rashad out I immediately flashed back to when Rashad turned Chucks lights out.

MMA like so many other things - what goes around comes around.
 
he is fighting best fighters in the world
 
All those injuries combined with some brutal shots taken. The man just lost his confidence.

He had a great career, and I hear he is a really good coach. Time to hang them up.
 
Points 2 and 3 tell the story. He lost his speed advantage and his explosiveness. As part of that he's lost his swagger and his confidence is shot. He knows he's not as fast and good as he was before therefore it's hard for him to be 100% confident in himself.
 
He's aged but damn how much ring time has he gotten over the past 4 years? When you don't get much ring time, you probably shouldn't step in the ring against top 5 guys. I think fringe top 10 opponent would have helped make his decision. He either can tune up and see what he needs to work on, or if he loses, it's probably easy to walk away at that point and just say my time has past. Now he got knocked out by a top 5 fighter and it's tough to make that decision.
 
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