It may be the end of the road for Rashad Evans.
Last night (June 9), Evans took on Anthony Smith inside the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The bout served as the featured UFC Fight Pass preliminary bout at UFC 225. Evans was knocked out by a knee in the first round.
Many believe that Evans wouldn’t have put himself in that position to set up the knee in his prime. This is the fifth straight loss for “Suga.” He hasn’t won a bout since Nov. 2013.
During the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said that Evans told him he’s hanging up his gloves (via MMAFighting.com):
“Yeah, he did. Again, I don’t want to stomp on his — if he was going to retire or whatever, I don’t want to steal the thunder from him. And obviously after a fight like that, he’s super emotional too. So yeah, I hope he does.”
Evans didn’t announce his retirement, but he did release a statement following the loss:
Evans is a former UFC light heavyweight champion. In his prime, Evans was taking on the likes of Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, and Michael Bisping to name a few. There was a time when Evans’ only two losses were to Machida and Jon Jones. Now, he finds himself with a 19-8-1 record and his best days clearly behind him.
Do you think it’s time for Rashad Evans to retire?
