PHOTO | Rashad Evans looked to be in amazing shape ahead of UFC 205

Earlier today news broke that former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans had been forced out of his scheduled UFC 205 bout with Tim Kennedy.

“Suga” spoke to MMAFighting.com about why he was forced to withdraw from the fight with Kennedy stating the following:

“I’m disappointed. I’m healthy. I don’t want anyone worrying about me. I’m fine, physically speaking. Never felt better. It’s just the commission and their rules. I guess they have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to this.”

“Man, I had something special for Tim,” he said.

“This doesn’t change the fact that I want to fight. This doesn’t change anything for me as far as fighting.”

“In life, if it ain’t one thing it’s another,” he said. “I won’t get beat down by this.”

Evans elaborated on the situation, stating that back in October he took a pre-fight MRI, which revealed “irregular findings” resulting in him needing to undergo further testing. The former champ reportedly passed the the tests, however was informed this week that he would not be granted a license to fight in the state of New York.

Shortly after the disappointing announcement, UFC President Dana White took to Twitter where he posted the following photo of how Rashad Evans looked just days out of Saturday’s historic event in New York.

He's of the NYC card but HOLY SHIT @SugaRashadEvans at 195Lbs in this pic pic.twitter.com/fAg3jNAsik

— danawhite (@danawhite) November 8, 2016

As you can see in the photo, the former UFC 205-pound champion looked to be in tremendous physical condition ahead of his scheduled middleweight debut fight with Tim Kennedy.

Rashad is hopeful that he will be able to fight again in the near future.

“Suga” was last seen in action in April of 2016, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to perennial contender Glover Teixeira.

Meanwhile, Rashad’s scheduled UFC 205 opponent Tim Kennedy has been all over Twitter in recent hours, calling out numerous fighters including Michael Bisping, Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz.

Do you think someone will step up on short-notice and fight Tim Kennedy this Saturday night at UFC 205? Sound off PENN Nation!