HAMMOND, IND. – Sitting on a well-worn weight bench in his friend Miguel Torres’ sweltering gym on Friday, Rashad Evans said there’s no reason for him to be in a hurry.
Evans, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, beat Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in May to become the top contender for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua‘s belt. But Rua, who won the title from Lyoto Machida in May with an injured knee, will be on the shelf until at least March recovering from surgery. And that means Evans is on the shelf, as well – by choice.
“I’m really not in a rush to fight right now – I’m ready, but I just want to fight the best fighters,” Evans said. “I know he fought Machida when he was hurt, so I can wait to fight the best Shogun. I’m not like, ‘Ahhh – I need to fight! I need to fight!’ There’s a lot of things I can do with my time when I’m not fighting.”