Rashad Evans recently voiced an interest in moving down to the middleweight division in a bid to take the title from Anderson Silva, but it appears those plans have now been put on hold for the time being.
In a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio, Evans manager Glenn Robinson revealed that the lack of an immediate title shot has put off the former light-heavyweight from dropping down to 185lbs.
“If the UFC offered him Anderson Silva at 185 right now today, he would go and fight Anderson Silva at 185,” Evans manager Robinson told the show. “The UFC is not offering him Anderson Silva at 185 today, so that’s not something that’s going to happen. So that’s all Rashad ever meant.”
Instead it seems that Evans is going to continue to ply his trade in the light-heavyweight division, and that he is aiming to fight before the end of the year.
“His goal is to stay 205 and to fight the best possible 205-pounder; he’d like to fight in December. That’s his goal.”
It’s unfortunate, I still think it would be a good move for Evans to drop to 185lbs and get straight into the mix with a top contender like Chris Weidman, but I’ve gotten the sense from him since he first talked about this that he wasn’t too excited about the prospect of having to cut weight and that may also be a contributing factor behind the decision.
If he does plan a permanant stay in the division that made him famous then he’ll be hoping that Jones somehow slips up against one of his forthcoming title challengers as that would put him right back in the title hunt, and he’s already pulling the strings to try and make that become a reality by agreeing to be Vitor Belfort’s head coach in his upcoming fight with the champion at UFC 152.
Alternatively, if he strings a couple of big wins together at light-heavyweight that might also be enough to convince the UFC that he’s worthy of an immediate title shot in the mdidleweight division.
