Despite recent skid, Rashad Evans will not be retiring

Back in 2008, when he held the UFC light heavyweight title, Rashad Evans was considered the best light heavyweight fighter on the planet. Even after he lost that title, succumbing to punches dealt by the surging Lyoto Machida, he was still regarded as one of the division’s very best.

Unfortunately, Evans eventually began to decline. After failing to reclaim the light heavyweight title from his heated rival Jon Jones, the former champ lost a tepid decision to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, defeated Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen, and then lost decisively to Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. With this diminishing success, he finally made a long-discussed move down to the middleweight division.

Regrettably, Evans’ drop to middleweight was not as fruitful as his fans hoped. Instead, he lost his divisional debut, giving up a split decision to middling contender Dan Kelly. To make matters worse, he then lost his next fight, dropping another split decision to another mid-level contender in Sam Alvey.

In the wake of these latest losses, many fans and pundits suggested it might be time for Evans to retire. Apparently, however, that won’t be happening just yet.

Speaking to MMAFighting, Evans explained that he can’t allow himself to retire in the midst of such a disappointing skid. The regret would simply be more than he could bear.

“I can’t retire like this,” he said. “I would never know peace again in my life. Endless nights I would be left looking at the ceiling unable to accept reality.”

Evans also explained that his next fight might occur back in the light heavyweight division, as he feels he has more energy north of 185 pounds.

“I have to talk that over, but I feel like at 205 I had more energy,” he said.

Do you think Rashad Evans should retire? Given that he seems to be opting not to, who would you like to see him matched up with?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/27/2017.