Surveying the landscape at the top of the light-heavyweight division, Rashad Evans and Ryan Bader appear to have come to the conclusion that they should fight each other next.
Evans is looking to return to action in just a few months time after what will have been almost a two year layoff due to knee surgeries and he sees Bader as a good first step to getting back into title contention. The good news for him is that it appears his fellow TUF winner agrees with him.
A former champion in the division, Evans is still currently ranked No.5 at 205lbs despite his long absence from the sport, having notched up wins over Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen prior to picking up his knee injury.
Bader is currently two spots above him at No.3 and has compiled a four-fight winning streak, all by decision against the likes of Rafael ‘Fejiao’, Ovince St.Preux and most recently Phil Davis. He’d been campaigning to get the first shot at Daniel Cormier’s light-heavyweight title recently, but was overlooked in favor of Alexander Gustafsson.
it’s believed that Evans and Bader are hoping to schedule their fight for UFC 192 in Houston on October 3rd if they get the green-light from the UFC, and since that event doesn’t have any fights booked as yet, that would appear to be as good a spot for them as any.
