Rashad Evans believes in Kamaru Usman at 205 pounds: “He can hang with them all”

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans is a believer in Kamaru Usman moving up to 205 pounds.

The current UFC welterweight champion recently revealed in an interview with GQ that he pondered fighting up in weight. Usman admitted that he didn’t even think about fighting at 185 pounds due to his friendship with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Instead, Usman gave serious thought to fight UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. Obviously, the fight never occurred as the Polish fighter ended up losing his UFC gold. However, it seems that Usman has a believer in his fighting ability at 205 pounds, and it comes in the form of Rashad Evans.

‘Suga’ recently spoke to ESPN MMA’s Marc Raimondi, and he noted that he thinks Usman could do great up at other weight classes.

VIDEO: UFC Hall of Famer @SugaRashadEvans talks his comeback fight with Eagle FC, Khabib Nurmagomedov as promoter, building a new Blackzilians team, Usman wanting to move to 205, Jon Jones and more https://t.co/9Nq0XuppZD

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) January 27, 2022

“Kamaru [Usman] is one of the most competitive guys out there. He’s got a discipline and a work ethic like no other. If he sets his mind to it, he can definitely go in there and do his thing. I mean Kamaru, when he’s in the training room, at 205, heavyweight, it doesn’t matter. He can hang with them all.” – said Rashad Evans when asked about Usman moving up in weight.

For now, it doesn’t seem that Kamaru Usman will move up in weight. While his next fight has yet to be confirmed, he’s expected to fight Leon Edwards in a rematch later this year. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ defeated ‘Rocky’ via unanimous decision when they first faced off in December 2015.

Image Credit: @ufc on Instagram

As for Rashad Evans, he’s set to make a return to the cage after more than four years away. ‘Suga’ signed to the Khabib Nurmagomedov-ran Eagle FC promotion earlier this year after being released from the UFC in 2019. He is expected to make his debut against Gabriel Checco at Eagle FC 44.

What do you think about Kamaru Usman moving up to light heavyweight?