Rashad Evans Defends Teammates Not Fighting Teammates

Slow news day today, but I found this to be kind a of interesting even though we've covered this topic to death.  Rashad Evans talks with Cagewriter about a lot of things from people's perception of him, talking smack during a fight, fighting Anderson Silva, what fight camp is the best, and more.  However, the part that stood out to me the most is him speaking on why he will not fight one of his teammates.  Check it:

I think Jackson's is the best because we don't just say we're teammates. We really care about each other and are really looking out for each other. We won't fight each other. Yeah, we could make a good payday. But when you're training with somebody every day unselfishly, you may not get anything out of it, but you're doing it because you want them to succeed. Their success is your success.

When you train like that, and you give everything you have, you could never fight somebody like that. Because once you fight someone, you cross a line that you'll never be able to get back. And once you have that in your mind, and you're thinking, I may fight him one day, you hold back. And he doesn't grow because you're holding back. That's what it means to be teammates.

So there is not an amount of money that would make you fight Keith Jardine?

No. At the end of the day, we're going to sit down somewhere and we're going to reflect on this whole experience of being a fighter. We're going to say, "Man, it went so fast, but didn't we have some fun in the meantime." And we'll be able to have a relationship for the rest of our lives, just based on the experience we're having right now. To me, that means more than money.

Money comes and goes. I may make a million dollars, then get a divorce and damn near lose all of it. Money will come and go. As long as you know how to make money, you'll always be able to make money. True wealth is not measured by how much money you've got in the bank or how many toys you've got. Some of the happiest people in the world don't have a crying quarter, but they've got all the things that mean a lot to them.

Yall know how I feel about it, but Evans has provided the most concrete reasoning yet as to why he will not fight one of his teammates.  Unlike another fight camp that has the same initials as my wife's sorority sisters.