Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion, Rashad Evans, is looking to get back into the swing of things sooner rather than later.
After dropping a unanimous decision to current 205-pound title holder, Jon Jones, at UFC 145 this past April, "Suga" has not stepped foot inside the Octagon. In the interim, Evans has been moonlighting as a broadcaster for "UFC Tonight" and helping out with pre- and post-fight duties for UFC on Fuel TV events, too.
Looking to get back to his first love, fighting, Evans had been rumored to be making a change in scenery in the form of shedding 20-pounds to compete in the promotion's middleweight division. A picture he posted on his Twitter account facing off against former two-time middleweight contender, Chael Sonnen, only added fuel to the fire.
Now, Glenn Robinson -- Evans' manager at Authentic Sports Management -- reveals that a drop down to 185-pounds could happen, but only if a title shot against the division champion, Anderson Silva, was on the table.
MMA Weekly has the details after the jump:
"If the UFC offered him Anderson Silva at 185 right now today, he would go and fight Anderson Silva at 185. 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. 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. Whoever is the best available. That's who we'll fight."
Currently, all of the top light heavyweights are currently booked to collide with one another with the exception of two notables:
Ryan Bader and James Te Huna.
Bader is coming off a brutal second round knockout loss at the hands of Lyoto Machida at UFC on Fox 4 a few weeks ago, while Te Huna is currently riding a three-fight win streak, recently putting a beating on the tough-as-nails Joey Beltran in his last time out at UFC on Fuel TV: "Weidman vs. Munoz" back in July.
There is also the aforementioned Machida, who currently has an empty dance card after he wanted more time to prepare for his title shot at "Bones;" however, with a potential title still looming down the road, its unlikely Zuffa matchmakers pair up "The Dragon" opposite Evans.
Then again, Dan Henderson would seem to be next in line ahead of Machida to get first crack at the winner of Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort following the whole UFC 151 debacle.
A bout with Sonnen, who is making his way back to 205-pounds, would also be entertaining and easy to sell.
The last two men who fought for the title in their respective divisions duking it out? What's hard to promote about that? Nevertheless, UFC matchmakers paired up Sonnen with Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 on Dec. 29, 2012, while Evans is still looking for someone to tango with.
"The Spider" included.
Any of you out there have any suggestions to shoot Joe Silva's way?