Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis

The main event of UFC on FOX 2 featured Phil Davis taking on Rashad Evans in a light heavyweight title eliminator fight. A win for Evans would, barring injury, guarantee him a shot against champion Jon Jones. A win for Davis, however, would not necessarily guarantee the same.

Davis opened with a body kick that glanced off of Evans, and then a low kick that landed more cleanly. Another low kick was landed from Davis, who then slipped as he threw a third, allowing Evans to clinch up. Davis dropped for a takedown but Evans defended with a front headlock, and the pair broke apart. Davis threw a superman punch that missed and they again clinched up. Evans beautifully caught a low kick and powerfully tripped Davis to the mat, landing in half-guard. Evans passed to side control and then immediately to the mounted crucifix position. Davis escaped the position and was to his knees working his way up as the round ended.

Davis whiffed on a big head kick to begin the second round. The fighters went back and forth from clinch to striking at a distance, and by a couple minutes into the round it appeared that Evans was gaining an edge in the striking. Evans caught a kick and again used it to land a takedown and move to side control, where the round ended.

Davis threw some jabbing kicks to begin the third then shot for a takedown, stuffed by Evans. Davis kept working and nearly had Rashad fully down on the mat, but it was Evans who ultimately was able to gain top position. Evans had the back but slipped off. Evans continued to dominate the positioning and landed several good shots on an exasperated looking Davis. Davis shot in and was able to get Evans down, but unable to hold him there.

Davis connected on a solid kick to the body early in the fourth. Evans landed his jab repeatedly. By late in the round Evans was again wearing down Davis, gaining positional advantage more frequently.

Evans again caught a kick in the fifth round and used that to launch a flurry of right hands as he backed Davis down and to the ground. Evans passed guard and briefly was in the mounted crucifix, but Davis used the same escape as earlier to get out and then to his feet. The fight ended on the feet, a clean win for Evans yet did not deliver the fireworks that many fans had hoped for.

The judges scored the bout 50-45 unanimously in favor of Rashad Evans. Speaking to Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview, Evans commented, "I fought at a pace that was a pretty high pace, and I wanted to put him away, but when you fight a guy as good as Phil Davis sometimes things like that happened... I'm excited because this is a fight [against Jon Jones] that I've been looking for."