I’ve been vocal in the past about the idea of Rashad Evans making a move to middleweight. I support the idea.
And it’s not even that I don’t believe Evans can compete at light heavyweight, because I do. I think he still beats pretty much everyone in the division not named Jon Jones. I simply like the idea of seeing what Evans can do when he’s not giving up drastic size to guys like Jones, Alex Gustafsson and other huge light heavyweights.
Evans has flirted with the idea in the past, but these days, he appears to be giving it more serious consideration, according to Franklin McNeil of ESPN.
I’ve been thinking about going down to middleweight lately. I haven’t totally made up my mind. It’s something I’m going to think about a little more in the coming months and see where my body’s at, but I’m definitely giving it serious consideration. The odds of me moving down to 185 are 50-50 or better.
I’d like to go right into a title fight, but realistically there are other contenders at 185, and to skip over everybody wouldn’t be fair. So, it would make sense for me to establish myself in the weight class and have a fight or two, whatever the case may be.
Folks worrying about Evans’ ability to make 185 pounds should remember that Rashad wrestled at 174 pounds in college. It’s been a while since he’s been that small, but his body can certainly make the weight.
I agree that Evans shouldn’t be thrown right into a title fight. But hey, why not a fight with someone like Alan Belcher or Vitor Belfort, or even, Rich Franklin?
There are plenty of top middleweights circling the periphery of title contention in the UFC; matching Evans up with one of them shouldn’t be a tough task at all.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com