Rashad Evans Bio, Net Worth and Other Facts You Need To Know

Quick Facts

Rashad Evans is a known name in mixed martial arts. He is a former UFC lightweight champion and goes by the nickname “Suga”. He is known for his mental strength and physical techniques and is also said to be one of the best lightweight fighters on the UFC promotion. Read this article to know about his professional life and other interesting facts about him.

Rashad Evans’ Bio

Rashad Anton Evans was born on September 25, 1979, in Niagara Falls, New York City, New York. He is a known American former mixed martial artist. His mother’s name is Shirley Ann Evans and he also has an older brother named Lance Evans. Rashad Evans had his high school at Niagara Wheatfield High School where he became the All-State wrestler two times and from there moved ahead to join the wrestling program of Community College.

He entered the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championships of which he finished in fourth place. Evans also attended the Michigan State University in Niagara County where he graduated with a B.Sc. in Psychology in 2003 and competed for Michigan State in the Big Ten Conference.

Rashad Evans first interest during his childhood days was in playing football but he later decided to put more interest in wrestling which led to his joining his college wrestling team. He has a black belt in Ganidojutsu and studied karate as a child. His impressive wrestling ability was spotted by his coach who helped train him even harder and Evans was able to compete on an international level with the help of good coaching and hard work.

As a child, he liked to fight because he grew up in a bad neighborhood where fighting was a normal thing and most times would wrestle with his brother. He once worked in the security department of a hospital prior to his mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

UFC Pro Career

Rashad Evans started his professional career in 2003/2004 when he joined the TV show known as “Ultimate Fighter.” The show helped in making him become very popular. Prior to his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut, Evans decided to drop some pounds of weight saying he could have a better chance if he dropped some weight and would be able to compete in the lightweight division.

In 2004, Rashad Evans competed in five professional mixed martial arts fight of which he won all five fights and this made it possible for him to be selected as one of the nine heavyweights to compete on “Ultimate Fighter 2.” He got to the final of the show.

Dropping down to UFC lightweight, his first fight was in April 2006 and it was against Sam Hoger who was a semi-finalist from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter and Evans was able to get a split decision win. This was followed by victories against Stephan Bonnar, Jason Lambert, Sean Salmon, , , and a draw against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion .

On December 2008, Evans faced light heavyweight champion Forest Griffin in a title fight and at the end of the fight, he came out victorious and became the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Evans was honored with Rashad Evans Light Heavyweight Champion Day in his hometown Niagara County, New York City on January 1, 2009.

The fighter has won lots of awards during his career as a wrestler such as Gladiator Challenge, Knockout of the Night, Fighter of the Year in Sherdog and many more. He has also appeared in a Microsoft commercial and was a regular commentator on the ESPN show “MMA Live” and has equally made an appearance on Spike TV show “Deadliest Warrior.” Evans was the second season winner of Spike’s Ultimate Fighter mixed martial arts reality show.

On June 25, 2018, Rashad Evans announced his retirement from MMA on ’s MMA show saying he can’t continue to fool himself any longer after more than 14 years of wrestling. He had lost his past five fights. The former light and heavyweight champion said he does not want to go out losing and that life needs him for other things although he feels unsatisfied with how his career came to a close. He said the latest results have proved it was necessary for him to move on.

What is His Net Worth?

Having had a wrestling career which spanned 14 years, he amassed a fortune which will serve him in his retirement. According to Forbes, the former mixed martial arts fighter’s net worth is estimated to be $8.5 million.

Family – Married, Wife, Kids

Rashad Evans is a divorcee. He was married to LaToya Evans in 2007 before they were divorced in 2012. The marriage produced two kids – a girl and a boy – named Nia Evans and Rashad Anton Evans Jr. However, Evans already had a daughter (Tahja Evans) from a previous relationship and is said to have had a son in 2015 making the number of children he has climb to four.

Other Facts To Know About Rashad Evans

In 2005, he became a staff of the Michigan State wrestling team, he was there in the capacity of a volunteer assistant coach.

Rashad Evans also played football, serving as both a running back and a safety.

His older brother, Lance had also made an appearance on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir.

Not one to boast of a good height, Evans stands 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) tall.

He entered The Ultimate Fighter show as the shortest and second lightest of the contenders but still got to the finals, nonetheless.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.