Rashad Evans aims to ‘stay aggressive’ at UFC title challenge

Rashad Evans is the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light-heavyweight champion -- and that alone is an impressive accomplishment. The division is the UFC’s deepest in talent, counting “Rampage” Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva and Forrest Griffin, among others.

Evans, 29, is unbeaten, a former winner of the UFC’s reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter,” and he claims a stirring knockout of Liddell and TKO beat-down of the tough Griffin in December to take the belt.

“I don’t remember being hurt,” Griffin said memorably afterward. “I remember waking up.”

Tonight in Las Vegas, Evans (18-0-1) defends his belt for the first time. He will fight Lyoto Machida, 30, another unbeaten fighter. Machida (14-0) answered UFC President Dana White’s request for a more exciting fighting style by ending Tito Ortiz’s UFC career and knocking out Thiago Silva in the first round of a January fight.

“I’m in shape, I’m ready to go,” Evans said this week after wrapping up a workout in preparation for the main event of UFC 98 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. “My keys to victory are similar to what they are in every one of my fights: good movement, stay aggressive -- my striking and takedowns are advantages. I’m not concerned about anything.”

Even after watching Machida’s last fight? When the sturdy, karate-disciplined Brazilian waited patiently for an opening and pounded Silva?

“It’s impressive . . . his mesmerizing movements get you sucked up into thinking you’re safe and the next thing you know, you can be thinking, ‘Why is the ref counting me out?’ ” Evans said. “But he’s never fought anyone like me.”

Evans’ striking skills rank near the top of the UFC -- ask Liddell.

Many mixed martial arts followers, however, question how long those skills will take to be showcased in a bout in which both fighters have been classified as counterattackers. The UFC is coming off a highly criticized main event at UFC 97, when middleweight champion Anderson Silva retained his title by a decision over Thales Leites, and one of Evans’ coaches has told him that if the MGM crowd is booing inaction that’s a good sign.

“He did say that, but with the respect of not just rushing in there to make something happen,” Evans said. “Fighting is for entertainment, but you don’t want to do something stupid and get your block knocked off. I think it’ll be an exciting fight, because [Machida] wants to look impressive and we both have skill levels we want to put on display.”

Evans’ skills are built with six months of training at trainer Greg Jackson’s Albuquerque compound.

“There’s times [Jackson] will tell you something, and you say, ‘What?’ But even if you don’t agree with it, you end up seeing what he’s saying,” Evans said. “He’s so good at analyzing every little step.”

The rest is up to Evans, who has been told by Jackson to again transform into his fighting persona, nicknamed “Suga.”

“There’s a gap between this person talking now and that guy who gets into the Octagon,” Evans said. “I change into an aggressive, very alert, keen and violent person. It’s like a dog in me. It’s the same thing that led me to fighting in the first place: this inspiration to finish a guy off.”

The card also includes a long-awaited welterweight battle between former champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, who intensified their rivalry as opposing coaches in the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter 6” reality television series.

Hughes, an intense product of a devout MMA program in Iowa, and tough-talking New Yorker Serra were supposed to fight in late 2007, but Serra suffered a back injury and had to pull out before ultimately losing his title in a rematch against current champ Georges St-Pierre.

“I’m healthy as a horse now,” said Serra, who hasn’t fought since his April 2008 loss to St-Pierre.

“I think it’s a fight obviously that a lot of people want to see. There was a big build-up, and unfortunately I had to withdraw and that killed me at the time. . . . Better late than never.”

Former lightweight champion Sean Sherk also fights once-beaten Frank Edgar.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com