Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion
and current No. 1 contender, “Suga” Rashad Evans took time from
training for UFC 145: JONES vs. EVANS to meet Women’s Tennis
Association (WTA) World No. 1 superstar Victoria Azarenka. The
top athletes visited the MMA Masters facility in Miami and traded
tennis and UFC gifts and expertise. Evans showed Azarenka some
moves in the cage while Azarenka shared a few tennis tips with
Evans. The Belarusian beauty is currently in Miami playing in
the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament.
In a few weeks, the most bitter and long-running UFC feud since
perhaps Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz II in 2006will come to
a dramatic conclusion. In the main event of UFC 145, undefeated
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones collides with
former friend turned bitter rival ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans. UFC 145
goes down on April 21, live on Pay-Per-View from the Philips
Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Evans and Azarenka had the following to say about their
experience on Wednesday:
“Suga” Rashad Evans, former UFC light heavyweight champion
and current No.1 contender, said:
"This was a nice break from training. It lets your mind
go free and gives you a chance to not think about the fight.
It was cool that she's another pro athlete, one who goes out
there and competes, mano-a-mano. It was fun."
"I can tell she's genuinely interested in MMA - it was
impressive how she grasps the concepts. I didn'tshow her too
much except for kicking, but she knew a lot more than I thought
she'd know. There were times she really looked like she knew
what she was doing."
"I love women's tennis. It actually dominates men's tennis
in my opinion. You know they're out there giving it everything
they've got. They go through the same anxiety we do of not wanting
to lose, and I respect that a lot."
"I'd be alright in a tennis match because I'm pretty agile
- I'm not too fast, but I'm very agile, so I mighthave a better
chance at winning in a tennis match, but she might win in MMAbecause
I don't hit women."
Victoria Azarenka, WTA’s World No. 1, said:
“It was a great experience to meet Rashad. He seems really
nice – I’m sure he’s a little bit meaner in the cage, but he’s
a great guy and it’s always great to meet somebody from a completely
different field. I love to follow UFC. I invited him to tennis
so I hope he can come cheer me on.”
"I wish I had time to train more. I'm curious about how
these athletes train. I could pick up something interesting
for myself."
