Sean Evans: On Your Shield

Written by Mike Hammersmith

“I decided a long time ago I’m happy to win exciting, or even win boring, but never lose boring. I’ll win or go out on my shield.”

It’s an ethos often expressed in the safety of interviews; life and limb nowhere near the realities of combat sports, but Sean Evans was quick to give examples ahead of his title fight at CFX.

“I was grappling a guy who weighed 340lbs, and as it turns out, size does matter.” said the 205lb amateur fighter “I was down 24-0 and rather than lose, I took a big risk and the guy caught me in an armlock. I let him break it rather than tap.”

We call that a “never say die” attitude and in the case of Evans, it was certainly born from his time running the streets and detention centers of Portland, Maine. It was a time of admittedly stupid crimes that saw him spending his formative years in detention centers, moving through the system as another victim of poor decision-making and lack of direction. It was during his time he met future MMA fighter Carl Langston; initially enemies but later friends as they became adults in the correction system. While Evans came to a time where he realized he needed to turn himself around, he would find that needed boot to the backside in a new venture: Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Working with Dan Simmler and Jorge Rivera, Evans started to become another success story amid the structure of training and rigors of the sport; a tangible focus for his efforts.

“I’ve just been focusing on this upcoming fight. For about eight months I was actually only sleeping two hours a night and probably overtraining. My thought was that if I wasn’t getting enough sleep, I should train harder to make up for it. I know that doesn’t make much sense, but it’s just how my brain works.”

While it certainly doesn’t make sense from the average perspective, it’s hard for one to argue with that kind of determination and strong results, with Evans having put together two solid wins thus far across two weight classes. While the overall goal is to compete at 185lbs, Evans will walk into a 205lb title fight at CFX 27, facing off against Lauzon MMA product Yorgan De Castro. It’s an interesting stylistic match-up, yet the avid fight fan and admitted MMA addict in Evans hasn’t bothered to watch footage.

“I’m not concerned with what he’s going to do in a fight. I’m going to go out there and fight how I want to fight, and that’s all that matters.”

Come and see how the CFX 205lb Amateur Title plays out at CFX 27. The event takes place Saturday, February 21st at The Armory in Taunton, Massachusetts. Visit cagefx.com for full event details and ticket information.

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