Rashad Evans has released a statement on his retirement.
Earlier this week, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title holder announced he is walking away from the sport of mixed martial arts. Evans leaves the sport with a professional MMA record of 19-8-1. As mentioned, he is a former UFC title holder. He was also the season two heavyweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Evans made history alongside Forrest Griffin back in Dec. 2008. They became the first “TUF” winners to headline a UFC card for a championship. Evans captured gold via third-round TKO.
“Suga” took to Instagram to release the following statement:
Here’s part of his statement if you can’t read the post:
“Deciding to retire was the toughest decision of my life because everything in me told me I need to keep fighting. I’ve fought my whole life in some form since I could remember so saying goodbye to my long time companion is hard. Fighting to me has never been about the actual fight itself. It was that in between space that exists in the fight where the ‘I’ completely dissolves & I transform into something else. In that space the fear, doubt, negativity & life worries could never follow me.”
Just last month, Michael Bisping, another former UFC champion retired. Evans and Bisping crossed path at UFC 78 back in Nov. 2007. Evans won the fight via split decision. Both men serve as analysts on the FOX Sports UFC panel.
Do you think Rashad Evans will get a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame?
