Anthony Johnson wouldn't fight Rashad Evans for $1 million
In a sport where teammates often eschew friendship for the possibility of a big payday or a championship belt, Anthony Johnson wouldn't sell out his relationship with Rashad Evans for anything. Not even a million dollars.
"It's all love when it comes to me and Rashad," Johnson told Fox Sports' Damon Martin. "A lot of people want to make it out to 'one day you two are going to have to fight each other.' I'd never fight Rashad. That's my boy, that's my teammate, that's my brother. If we fought, would there be a large amount of money to be made? Oh hell yeah. But everything isn't always about money.
"I've got too much respect, I love Rashad too much to even try to damage our relationship like that. They can put a million dollars in front of me and say 'you have to fight Rashad' and I would say you can take that million dollars and do something with it."
A former light heavyweight champion, Evans had his friendship with former Jackson-Winkeljohn teammate Jon Jones destroyed while Jones was thoroughly tearing apart the 205-pound division. Jones' ascension caused Evans to leave the Albuquerque-based gym and join the Blackzilians. The two eventually fought at UFC 145 in 2012, with Jones winning a lopsided unanimous decision.
This isn't a likely scenario for Johnson and Evans.
"Even with everything I've been through, Rashad has always been in my corner trying to talk sense into me. I have respect for the man," Johnson said. "A lot of people don't have that respect for their teammate, they just want to fight, they don't care.
"I think that's dumb."