(“Ay man, ain’t you that UFC fighter Rashard Lewis er somethin’? The name’s Johny, but m’friends call me Cooter. Wanna go out back and blow up some frogs?” / Photo via Getty)
As the UFC prepares to announce its entire 2015 event schedule, the injury bug has already started to pick off fights slated for next year. Remember that light heavyweight bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Rashad Evans that was supposed to headline a FOX event in Stockholm on January 24th? Well, it’s not happening. Ariel Helwani revealed on UFC Tonight that a lingering knee injury will keep Evans sidelined for a couple more months. From FoxSports.com:
Evans suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament earlier this year and had to undergo surgery to repair the damage. The normal turn around time for this time of injury is usually 10 months to a year.
Evans was progressing well in his recovery and rehabilitation, but a hard week of training to make the final push into a decision about accepting the fight or not didn’t go his way.
According to UFC Tonight reporter Ariel Helwani who spoke to Evans this week, his knee is still not 100-percent and coming back as early as January wouldn’t be prudent to his long term success.
Evans said his knee still felt unstable and he wasn’t able to explode like he normally would if his leg was completely healthy. With the minor setback, Evans is now anticipating a March return to the Octagon.
Alexander Gustafsson still hopes to fight in January or February, although his opponent is uncertain. One possibility being floated is Anthony Johnson, if he’s ever removed from the indefinite suspension that the UFC has him on related to recent allegations of domestic violence. According to Helwani, a decision on Johnson’s future should be made by UFC officials soon.