RASHAD EVANS: You know, there's not one fighter that
fights exactly alike.
Even though they may look like it, they're still-- the
expression is different, because your personality
comes out in it.
A side of me comes out when I'm competing, that in real
life, I'm not like that.
When I compete, I'm cocky sometimes.
I'm arrogant.
But that's not for the fans at home.
That's for my opponent.
I don't fight to prove that I'm tough.
I already know I'm tough.
I fight because it's inside of me.
We all are fighters.
Every single person who walks this earth is a fighter.
Everything that lives--
to live is to fight, and we just fight
in different arenas.
Uh oh.
It's in the water.
He ain't jumping in the water, I tell you that.
You want the ball?
Want the ball, huh?
Go get it.
Go get it, get it, get it.
Man, you're slow.
You're slow!
I'm always afraid before I compete.
Before I fight, I'm always afraid.
I'm always like that.
That feeling.
And before, I used to have a hard time just dealing with
it, because I would try to run away from it.
But then as I competed more, I understood the fact that this
is how I'm supposed to feel.
The biggest thing for me whenever I compete, accept it.
I used to have a sports-- like in GSP, we used to
use the same one.
And he used to have this drill that we used to do.
And we would stand in the mirror and just say, I don't
give a fuck.
And just say that over and over again, until you really
start to really feel it inside, like I
don't give a fuck.
And when you're saying that, you really sound like, I don't
give a fuck if I get laughed at.
I don't give a fuck if I get knocked out in one second.
I don't give a fuck if it's the worst fight I've ever had.
I don't give a fuck.
And then once you start breaking down all those
things, all those feelings, all those fears that you may
have that becomes barriers, that becomes the red lights,
that becomes the thing that keeps you from competing at
your best, then you're able to just free
yourself and just go.
HENRI HOOFT: Rashad, everybody knows Rashad, of course.
He started this.
Rashad is just--
he's so funny.
He's never really down.
He's had a lot of stuff going on in the last year, with a
lot of personal stuff, but he still always smiles, brings
his good stuff, good energy to the gym.
Especially at this moment, when he's right before the
fight with [INAUDIBLE], he has a good vibe, good energy.
And Rashad's very good, you know, in his role as one of
the mentors of the gym and one of the fighters.
RASHAD EVANS: Growing up, I was, like, a crazy kid.
Lot of energy, always wrestling, always fighting.
I grew up in Niagara Falls, New York.
It was fun there.
You had the Falls there and everything else.
Growing up, I played football, I wrestled, and I even ran
track a little bit.
But my last high school football game, we were in the
semis in the playoffs, and my team lost.
It kind of struck a chord in me, because no matter how good
of a game I had, I still didn't win the game.
And I didn't want to do it anymore, because I was like,
if I'm going to lose, I want it to be on me.
I want to be the one who's holding the blame for losing.
I don't want to doubt my teammates or anything else
like that, because they didn't come through on their end.
And I was like, you know, when I lose, I want to lose for me.
HENRI HOOFT: It's not normal how strong he is, how fast.
He already did very good, of course.
He was a champion.
But we want to see him, like, bang, like the old days.
Just go out there and just, don't care.
Just go.
Just do it.
RASHAD EVANS: The first time I stepped into the cage, it was
like a rush that I never felt before.
It was a different kind of excitement, because it was
married with fear, and it was something I'd never had as a
competitor before.
Because even as a wrestler, no matter how big the stage was,
I still never had that fear like you do
when you have a fight.
I found comfort in just playing around and joking, and
that helped me relax a little more.
But the first time I stepped in the cage, it was like, wow,
this is going down.
HENRI HOOFT: Rashad is like a character, man.
I mean, you see him, he's smiling, he's making fun.
But Rashad, when he's here, he works hard.
He works hard, and he does what he needs to do, you know?
We like to train hard, and we hit hard, but we still smile.
You know, if you knock somebody out, knock somebody
down, have somebody in a choke, you still smile after
it, you know?
You work together.
And Rashad is just a good guy with that.
RASHAD EVANS: You know, I've heard some people say, oh,
he's made it.
And whatever that means.
But I understand the concept behind what they're saying.
What they're saying is that he's known.
He's been around in the game.
He's been in the fight game for a while.
And being in the fight game for a while is a feat in
itself, especially seeing how short a window fighters have.
So a lot of guys, they respect that, and
they give me the respect.
I am a student.
I am a student of whoever I can learn from.
I don't see myself in a position like, oh, I'm above
anybody else, and I can never learn, or no one can ever
teach me anything.
Because you learn a lot from guys who are just
starting off sometimes.
And sometimes, when you've been in the game for a long
time, and you've seen a lot, it's good to get a fresh sense
of fresh energy from somebody, because somebody may come in
who hasn't been in the game for a long time, who's just
got an energy about them.
That's one thing about John Jones that I like most about
training with him.
He was my favorite training partner to train with, because
he helped me be more creative.
Because when I was training with him, he would always do
something out of the box.
And he didn't really have any fear yet.
He wasn't really afraid, so he would just do
whatever he would do.
And it would work, because people wouldn't expect it,
because it's not typically what you would do.
But that's what made him great, and that's why I liked
training with him, because it was like one of those things
where you see somebody with a fresh new look
on things, you know?
And that's what some of these guys got coming in.
They've got a fresh look on things.
HENRI HOOFT: People are only going to talk with you when
you're open for it.
He's open.
He talks with everybody about everything, you know?
Never comes into problems, never has problems, never has
problems with people here.
He's a very cool guy.
Very relaxed, laid down.
Again, a good mentor for young kids.
They look up to him.
But they don't really need to look up to him, because he's
here, training with them, doing just normal.
I mean, he has nothing to do with stardom or something.
He knows he's just a fighter.
And I know from my own experience--
I mean, I was a champion, too-- it takes
a very short time.
A long time to get there, but a very short time to fall
down, and nobody cares about you anymore.
And he sees that.
He's just normal with the guys.
Doesn't really matter.
RASHAD EVANS: To compete against me is a mistake.
He shouldn't be in a cage with me, even though I may respect
him immensely.
And that's my mindset when I compete, because for one
second if I give him too much respect, then he's already
raising his leg on me, and I can't be pissed on.
I refuse.
I piss on people.
I don't get pissed on.
And that's gotta be my mindset.
But that's different than me in real life.
In real life, I'm passive.
I'm calm.
I don't get upset a lot.
I'm a nice person.
But when I compete, it's a different thing.
It's a different expression.
I always want to be around the sport, rather than just being
an MMA analyst, or rather helping out guys on the team,
I always want to be part of the sport.
This sport has done amazing things for me.
If I couldn't laugh, I couldn't smile, if I couldn't
have jokes with my friends, then there'd
be no sense of living.
So for me, that makes me enjoy life more.
That makes me enjoy practice more.
That makes me enjoy this time that we have with each other,
because that's what it's about, man.
Life is celebration.
The fact that I was able to get up and train in the
morning, and the fact that I was able to train and sweat
and be able to do this and get this grind in with these guys,
that's a blessing.
That right there is a celebration.
One day, these will just be memories that I have.
And one day, I'll be too old to do it, and I'm going to
wish that I enjoyed it more.
So I try to enjoy it as much as possible.