Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

A few days later, does Rashad Evans' knockout win over Chuck Liddell in the main event of UFC 88 seem more believable?

The interesting thing about the upset is that the match between Liddell and Evans was the only one of the event with any significant title implications. Going into the bout, it was widely assumed that should Liddell emerge victorious, it would lead to a December title fight with Forrest Griffin, matching up two of the UFC's poster boys.

No one ever pondered what would happen if Evans won, because few expected him to. But now that he has pulled off the upset - and done it with an exclamation point - you have to wonder how high his ceiling is, both in terms of talent and popularity. Evans will be 29 later this month, and has stepped up to every challenge presented his way since entering the pro ranks.

First, look at his talent.

Evans' base is in arguably the most important building block of MMA: wrestling. Why is wrestling so important? Because if you are a strong wrestler, you can control where the fight takes place. If you feel you are a better striker than your opponent, you can use your wrestling to stay upright, but if you feel he is a threat, you can take him to the ground. Evans has one of the longest streaks to start a career in modern MMA history, and training with Greg Jackson and his crew of coaches and athletes, he is only going to get better. Jackson seems to get every ounce out of talent out of his fighters.

According to Sherdog.com, Jackson Submission Fighting athletes have one of the best team winning percentages in MMA at .787. Evans' game has certainly shown new flourishes since training there. Once derided as a "lay-and-pray" fighter (one who simply scores takedowns and hopes for a decision), Evans has finished three of his last four wins, and two of those KO's will be seen on UFC highlight reels long into the future. His boxing is crisper, and he is infinitely more well-rounded.

Evans also seems to have that knack of squeezing out wins. When he debuted on season two of The Ultimate Fighter, he was a bit undersized while fighting at heavyweight, but ultimately won his weight class despite facing seasoned competition.

Next, let's take a look at his marketability.

When it comes to popularity, Evans seemingly hasn't earned legions of fans the same way other TUF alumni like Griffin has. But they might be coming. By this point, Evans has had several high-profile fights, main-eventing cards both on pay-per-view and on Spike. The spectacular win over Liddell could vault his Q-rating the same way it did for Rampage Jackson. Evans is easily marketable, a Michigan State alumni with a degree in psychology who is talented, charismatic and quick with a smile. He just needs a vehicle to get his personality across, because he has it within him to take his star power up a few notches.

There is no reason why the company couldn't sell him to the public, rather than simply rely on Griffin's drawing power to promote their upcoming matchup.

Crushing a longtime favorite like Chuck Liddell isn't always great for a fighter's popularity, but it will do wonders for his credibility. Evans has momentum. Now it's up to him and the UFC to do something with it.

Shamrock-Slice hype finally begins
I spent part of Thursday on a conference call to hype the Kimbo Slice-Ken Shamrock match on the upcoming Oct. 4 EliteXC card. It was an interesting call to say the least. Kimbo voiced a respect for Shamrock, but that didn’t last long as the two traded verbal fireworks in several exchanges. One such exchange:

Shamrock: “I’m going to go out there and be too fast for him. I hit hard. He’ll eat a few of my punches, and then I won’t have to take him down. He’ll go down.”

Kimbo: “I’m going to give you a shot. I’ll give you an open chin shot.”

Shamrock: “That’s why I’m the veteran and you’re the rookie. You’re an idiot.”

Later, when asked if he brought in any special training partners to prepare, Shamrock said, “Yeah, I went down to the corner store and a got a bunch of thugs, everyone over 280 [pounds] and said come on down to my gym.”             

Some of it felt a little forced, but Shamrock did say later that he looks for things to use for momentum, and he could have been trying to get Kimbo to say something inflammatory. Instead, it was him unleashing most of the verbal blows.

With about three weeks to go, the fight has not gotten much of a promotional push, but EliteXC officials expect CBS to air commercials during NFL and college football games directly targeting the young male demographic.

Affliction future
So I’ve gotten a few emails from readers wondering what the major announcement is that Affliction COO Michael Cohen is promising.

I stress that this is simply a guess, but I think that Affliction will announce a split boxing and MMA card on January 17 with one main event in each. Some people seem to think Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions will be part of the deal, but in some ways, they already are. Roy Englebrecht Events is the promoter of record for Affliction, and De La Hoya is a minority partner in that company.

Quick ground education
New fans of MMA are being converted every day. But for those people who still don't get the ground game and think of it as barbaric, this might be an interesting video to show them. WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres explains and illustrates the human chess match of jiu-jitsu during his title win over Chase Beebe.

GSP enjoying a break… sort of
Georges St. Pierre said he needed some time off after defeating Jon Fitch in August, which was his fourth match in a calendar year. Now we know that St. Pierre is taking a working vacation. He's currently in Brazil, working on his ground game.

MMA Fight Weekly: Tanner tribute
Evan, may your soul fly freely in eternal adventure.