A former UFC Champion has called it quits, as 38-year old Rashad Evans has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.
The winner of The Ultimate Fighter season 2 as a heavyweight in 2005, Evans made his name at 205 pounds in the UFC. There, he would beat Stephan Bonnar, Tito Ortiz, Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson and of course Forrest Griffin on his way to capturing the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. He would feud with former teammate Jon Jones later in his career, facing off with him for the UFC Light Heavyweight title in 2012.
Evans announced his decisions on the debut edition of ESPN's Ariel Helwani's MMA Show.
“I’m going to retire,” Evans said. “There’s so much that goes into it all, but at one point in my life I felt as if fighting was everything. I put life second, but now life is taking over and now fighting has become second. Competing in a sport like mixed martial arts where you have a lotta guys who haven’t been to the top of the mountain and haven’t experienced it the things that I’ve experienced, they’re really hungry for it."
After missing all of 2014 and most of 2015, Evans wasn't welcomed back to the 205 pound division, and lost back-to-back fights. A failed attempts at changing his fates at middleweight led to his return to light heavy earlier this month. That would result in a vicious knockout at the hands of Anthony Smith in under a minute at UFC 225.
Evans retires with a record of 19-8-1, although his three victories on The Ultimate Fighter are considered exhibition bouts. Evans also has the distinction of headlining two pay-per-views that saw over one million buys in UFC 92 (against Forrest Griffin) and UFC 114 (against Rampage Jackson).
