If Rashad Evans has his way, he will be making his return to the Octagon in March or April. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title holder was supposed to fight Tim Kennedy at UFC 205 in New York City.
The fight was canceled due to health concerns from the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC). The fight was rebooked for UFC 206, but the Ontario Commission wouldn’t clear “Suga” for the same reasons. Evans told MMAFighting.com that a radiologist is to blame for the misreadings:
“I’m going to fight. You know, the thing that happened in New York, it was pretty much a misunderstanding with the brain MRI thing. Because the radiologist read pretty much the same radiology exam and then he gave two different assessments of it. In 2013, he said it was absolutely fine, there’s nothing. And then in 2016, looking at pretty much the same identical image, he said I had new changes, which to the commission was like, wait, if you have new changes with your brain MRI, then your brain is still injured and you can’t compete.”
“But upon further review and having everything looked at and tested up the wazoo, it was pretty clear what happened. And it was just a radiologist not doing his due diligence. But, at the end of day it cost me, and it is what it is, but I was able to put it behind me and move forward.”
Evans said he’s ready to roll soon. Having not competed since his knockout loss to Glover Teixeira back in April 2016, Evans revealed when he’d like to get back to the action.
“March or April.”
If “Suga” is able to compete again, he’ll get a chance to prove to fans that he can still hang in the world leader of mixed martial arts (MMA). He hasn’t won a fight since Nov. 2013.
