Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans has been on the waiting list of title contenders for almost two years, and he will get the chance to finally put himself into the No. 1 contender’s spot when he faces the undefeated Phil Davis at UFC on Fox 2.
The event will take place Jan. 28 and feature Evans and Davis in a five-round main event. Davis will enter the bout with a 9-0 record and five of those victories coming from inside the Octagon.
Since losing his title to Lyoto Machida in 2008, Evans has gone 3-0 with wins over Tito Ortiz, Quinton Jackson and Thiago Silva.
During the most recent episode of Inside MMA, Evans discussed the upcoming bout and where he thinks he has the advantage over Davis and where he thinks the win will put him.
“Honestly, I don’t know for sure, to say, if I will definitely get a title shot,” Evans said of what a victory will do for him.
“The thing about it is that, I’ve been promised a title shot, and the UFC does what they need to do to keep putting on shows so I just got to keep on fighting.”
Evans’ training partner and current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will be facing Lyoto Machida later this week at UFC 140. The winner of that fight could be an intriguing challenger for Evans, no matter who it is, if he is to come out victorious against Davis.
“It’s more than a slight edge,” Evans said of his chances against the former NCAA Division I wrestler.
“Phil is definitely a tough competitor. He’s very athletic. He’s very long, and he’s strong, and he’s got that youngness about him. He has a big opportunity in front of him, so whenever you got a big opportunity in front of you, you have nothing to lose. You can really go all out, so I definitely got my hands full going against a guy like Phil Davis.”
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com