RASHAD EVANS WILL SUFFER HIS FIRST LOSS AT UFC 85 TO JAMES IRVIN. I’M NOT JUST SAYING THIS TO SAY IT, I JUST HAVE A FEELING THAT JAMES IRVIN WILL WHOOP THAT ASS AT UFC 85? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS FIGHT? DO YOU THINK JAMES IRVIN CAN DO IT?

I have a feeling that this will be a fairly easy win for Rashad due to his wrestling.Unless Irvin can land a knee or big punch to prevent the takedown Evans should have this in the bag.Irvin has some good skills and I did pick him over Houston so anything could happen though.

i see rashad using his wrestling to take an easy decision too. irvin is pretty tough standing (although his technique is not great) but he got controlled by terry martin for most of their fight before he landed the knee. one would assume that rashad has better wrestling than martin and that would be the safest area for rashad to win the fight.
rashad is on a slightly higher level imo.

James will win for sure.

i dont think that james irvin is that good of a fighter i dont think hes on the level that rashad is on he was training to fight the biggest name in mma rashad was and i think he porbably feels like crap that now he cant prove himself to the mma world as a champion type fighter if i were him that would piss me off royaly and thats why i think hes going to come out with an intensity that we havent seen from him yet and hopefully he will fight chuck or machida to see who will face rampafe i think that would be the best thing to see happen

IMO, this one will go to Irvin easily. I think Rashad will tire quickly and he might get a tired ass takedown or two and throw weak punches and just try to win a boring UD. Not this time. Irvin will be faster and I just think he is going to win and I just don’t like Rashad any way. Irvin by KO!

this could come down to who has the better cardio, if rashad cant finish him early with a tko or sub irvin might be able to knock rashad out in the ladder half of the fight

If anyone’s cardio is suspect, its Irvins (not hating on Irvin, I think he is an exciting fighter). He is a typical one punch machine, and after the first half of the second round, he has all but lost his fangs. Now he isn’t as bad as Lutter, but the guy losses his explosiveness before the start of the third round. I think his TD defense is suspect as well. The one thing about Irvin tho, you have to ALWAYS give him a punchers chance.

I am not a huge Rashad Evans fan, but remember, styles make fights. And in the matchup between a brawler and a wrestler, the wrestler almost always wins. Irvin could rock Rashad with a huge punch or knee on the way in for a TD, but I am willing to risk against the punchers chance and say that Rashad will absorb some punishment (which he can do) and grind out a LnP decision. Rashad has shown the world repeatedly that he can implement a winning gameplan, conserve his energy, and work guys on the mat for ENTIRE FIGHTS. Could go either way. I just hope if Irvine losses, he doesn’t get cut, I think he is an awesome fighter having a rough time.

BTW, no fight is ever a sure thing…ever.

I’ve got Irvin picked to win because I still believe that Rashad’s chin hasn’t truly been tested by a striker who actually presents a true KO threat in the stand up and such. I must admit, I’m not familiar with much of anything outside of the TUF 2 finale as far as the punishment he took or the people he faced while he was on the show, so my doubts as to how good his chin truly is could be dumbfounded. Still, I do have a feeling that Rashad will win, however, because of the reason I stated above, and the fact that I’m a bit of an Irvin fan, I have Irvin picked to win.

Also for the “no fight is ever a sure thing” statement, though I normally would agree 100%, I must slightly disagree on this one. Wanderlei Silva vs Kazushi Sakuraba is a sure thing every time. lol