While it appeared to be all but a done deal after UFC 225, Rashad Evans has formally announced that it is time for him to hang up the four-ounce gloves.
“The Ultimate Fighter 2” winner revealed the news Monday on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. Evans last appeared at UFC 225, where he suffered a 53-second knockout loss to Anthony Smith on June 9. That was the fifth consecutive defeat for the former UFC light heavyweight champion.
After Evan’s latest bout, UFC President Dana White said the fighter had indicated he was ready to call it quits. However, immediately after UFC 225 Evans only released a lengthy statement via Instagram that didn’t seem to make a decision one way or another. On Monday, Evans was much more clear.
“At one point in my life, I felt as if fighting was everything. It was everything. I put life second,” Evans said on the ESPN show. “But now life has taken over. Now fighting has become second. And competing in a sport like mixed martial arts, where you have a lot of guys who haven’t been to the top of the mountain, and haven’t experienced the things that I’ve experienced, they’re really hungry for it. And me, I was just lukewarm.”
Evans debuted as a professional fighter in 2004, and he leaves the sport with a 19-8-1 record. His last victory dates back to November 2013. On that occasion, Evans defeated Chael Sonnen via first-round TKO at UFC 167. Recently, Evans attempted a move to middleweight but returned to 205 pounds at UFC 225. Evans owns notable wins over the likes of Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Michael Bisping, Quinton Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Phil Davis and Dan Henderson, among others.
“I don’t want to go out losing,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s what I need. It’s what I need to do because I feel like I have other things in life that are calling me to do, to go to.”