Yahoo Sports Rashad Evans Not Retiring, Despite Middleweight Setback
With a split-decision loss to Daniel Kelly at UFC 209 on March 4 in his middleweight debut, former light-heavyweight champion “Suga” Rashad Evans has now lost three fights in a row, and rumblings of retirement have started to circulate.
During his recent appearance on The Luke Thomas Show, however, Evans pushed back against the notion of hanging up his gloves, and is eager to return to fighting as soon as possible.
“Once you get into a good, competitive, rhythm, you’ve gotta stay in a good, competitive, rhythm,” Evans told Thomas. “If you stop, then you’re going to stop that rhythm.
“I had a great training camp, I felt physically great. I felt like I was going to go out there and do some great things, but when it was time to go, it just didn’t happen like that for me.”
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In order to right himself, Evans wants back in the Octagon soon, especially since he knows at his age, time is short for his career.
“The best thing to do is get back out there and to fight again and to find that competitive rhythm and find that flow,” said Evans.
“I’ve got to get this loss off me. I know I’m better than this. I know I’m a better competitor than this, and I want to go out there and fight as much as I can. That’s just the truth of the matter. I’m 37 years old and I don’t know how long my body is going to hold out to do what I love to do.”
Evans believes he’ll know when the time is to call it a career, and at this moment – even with his current struggles – he feels he is still a viable commodity in MMA.
“I want to compete as much as I can until I can’t compete anymore,” Evans said. “And when I can’t compete anymore, I can’t compete anymore. But at the end of the day, I still feel like I can compete, and that’s what I want to do. I want to compete.”
