Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans was set to square off with current champion Jon Jones at the end of 2011.
Evans later found out from doctors he would only have three to four weeks to prepare for Jones and the biggest fight of his career.
As expected, Evans opted out of the championship bout as Lyoto Machida stepped in.
In an interview with MMA‘s Karyn Bryant, Evans addressed his return and the possibility of fighting once more before a title shot would occur.
“I want to stay active, I want to keep on fighting. If another opportunity comes and it’s an opportunity to stay active, I might take it,” Evans said.
Evans went on to address the circumstances and hardships he endured as he had to withdraw from the chance of regaining his much desired championship belt.
“Everything happened the way it did and it happened for a good reason,” he said. “It worked out for the better. When it comes down to it, there’s really no mistakes in life. It’s about when something bad or something you don’t expect happens, you got to find the silver lining.”
Evans has found the silver lining nearly every time he’s stepped foot inside the Octagon, losing just one time in his mixed martial arts career.
Posting a career 16-1-1 record, Evans’ only loss came to the hands of Machida when he was knocked out at UFC 98.
Evans addressed Machida’s chances at UFC 140, saying, “I think he has a really good chance against Jon. He trains with Anderson Silva and Anderson is the guy he gets a lot of his style from. If he understands how Anderson moves, he’ll understand how Jon is.”
While Evans may have to fight again before getting his shot at gold, it’s likely he’ll eventually be squaring off with either Jones or Machida in the near future.
“I want to fight them both and I want to fight them in the same night,” Evans said, laughing. “Tournament style.”
“Honestly, seriousness, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m looking to compete with the best, so whoever wins is the best.”
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