4. Rashad Evans
Evans’ introduction to the MMA world came on Season 2 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” where he drew the ire of his coach, Matt Hughes, for what the former welterweight king perceived to be showboating during a preliminary bout on the reality show. Things improved from there for the former Michigan State University wrestler. He joined forces with the famed Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts team at the urging of castmate Keith Jardine and eventually captured light heavyweight gold by defeating Forrest Griffin at UFC 92. “Suga” had a highly publicized split with the New Mexico-based fight camp in 2011 shortly after then-teammate Jon Jones won the UFC 205-pound strap. The Evans-Jones feud reached its climax at UFC 145, where “Bones” defeated Evans via five-round unanimous decision. Now entrenched as one of the founding members of the Blackzilians camp in Florida, Evans remains a perennial Top 10 light heavyweight, but a head-scratching loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 156 put a halt to talks of a potentially lucrative middleweight showdown with Anderson Silva.
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