Rashad Evans draws Anthony Smith for UFC 225 fight in Chicago

TUF OG Rashad Evans is set to step into the Octagon once again, this time for a light heavyweight bout against Anthony Smith at UFC 225.

ESPN confirmed the match up with officials, which will go down June 9th from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. At this point there’s no news on what portion of the card the fight will take place on. Once upon a time a Rashad Evans fight would sit right near the top if not at the very top of the card. But following a lackadaisical 0-4 skid, some even wondered whether we’d see Rashad in the UFC again at all.

The UFC certainly isn’t giving him a softball in Anthony Smith. Smith is 4-1 in the UFC with his last three wins coming via knockout. If Evans doesn’t show up ready to fight this time, he could end up on the wrong end of a Sean Salmon style finish.

It almost wasn’t like this at all. According to Rashad, he almost ended up fighting Michael Bisping at UFC London on March 17th, but the bout up fell apart for undisclosed reasons. That would have been a pretty decent bit of matchmaking ... not that Bisping is easier than Smith, but at least he and Evans are around the same age and the fight had some headline appeal.

Now Evans just has to face the 29 year old Smith, probably on the prelims of the pay-per-view. We almost feel bad for him ... until we remember how much money he’s still making per fight.