Yes, Evan Elder might be too good for all of us in this crazy world, but hey, a little light never hurt anyone. And as far as the positive impact goes, he’s doing it. Maybe it’s only one person at a time, but if you chat with the St. Louis native for any length of time, you’ll leave that conversation smiling. That’s rare these days. But for all the good vibes coming from “The Phenom,” the bottom line is that he still has to step into the Octagon on Saturday night and take care of business after a disappointing debut. Well, it’s disappointing on paper, as he stepped up a weight class from lightweight to welterweight and lost a three-round decision to Preston Parsons last April. But in true Elder fashion, he found a way to find the bright side in his first trip to the Octagon, and that bright side was realizing that there was no quit in him, despite being in some dicey spots during those 15 minutes.
MORE FIGHT NIGHT: Jéssica Andrade Is Here To Feast On Contenders | Alex Hernandez Will Fight Anywhere | Mayra Bueno Silva Hitting Her Stride
“I had this thought of me tapping out,” Elder admits. “I literally lifted my hand to go tap out because those arm triangles were so tight, and I was freaking gurgling and couldn’t breathe. And I was like, ‘Oh, this is it, he got me,’ and I went to go tap out. And I was like, ‘You will not be able to look at yourself in the mirror and know that you gave up.’ That’s all it was. It wasn’t like I was dying; I was just uncomfortable. And after that point, I was like, yeah, you just keep fighting, no matter what. It doesn’t matter how much it hurts, it doesn’t matter how tired you are, it doesn’t matter how uncomfortable you are, just keep fighting. And that’s kind of the message I want to convey to everybody else because life itself is a fight. And we always got to keep fighting because in that fight, every time I kept fighting, I managed to get out. I didn’t die, I didn’t get finished. So just always keep fighting and you never know the way things are going to play out. But you definitely know the way things are going to play out if you quit.”