Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans won’t be returning to action anytime soon.
As reported on UFC Tonight on Wednesday, Evans underwent a second procedure to correct the torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee. Evans was scheduled to face Glover Teixeira on Feb. 22 at UFC Fight Night 61, but that fight was cancelled in early January when it was learned that Teixiera had suffered a knee injury.
According to UFC Tonight’s Ariel Helwani, Evans realized in mid-December that his body had rejected the cadaver tissue from an operation to repair his knee last year, but he was still planning on going through with the fight. Once Teixeira withdrew, he opted to have a second surgery to correct the ACL.
Evans originally suffered the torn ACL just a couple of weeks before he was to meet Daniel Cormier at UFC 170 last February, and has been rehabilitating his knee with the cadaver tendon since having surgery later that month. All had been optimistic, as he was briefly linked to a fight with Alexander Gustafsson for January, and then later against Teixeira.
But according to the report, Evans heard a pop while training about a week before Christmas. Much like with what happened with then-bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, the cadaver tendon didn’t take, and he was forced to undergo a second corrective surgery. In the second surgery they took a piece of his patella tendon to fix it.
Even though he’s competed as a wrestler and a fighter his whole life, these were two surgeries he’s ever undergone.
Evans last competed at UFC 167 in 2013, when he scored a first round TKO victory over Chael Sonnen in Boston. No immediate timetable was set for his return, though Evans — who was initially depressed about the situation — said he won’t let this latest setback get him down.
He hopes to be back in action within six to seven months.
“I decided I won’t let this beat me,” he said. “I won’t be held down by this. I decided I will get 100% healthy.”