Rashad Evans 'probably' to middleweight with 'Rumble' title, but eyes Jones rematch

Rashad Evans

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil – With his teammate, Anthony Johnson, set to fight for the UFC light heavyweight title in May, former 205-pound champ Rashad Evans (19-3-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC) is contemplating a move to the middleweight division.

“When Anthony wins, I’m not going to fight Anthony,” Evans said at Saturday’s pre-UFC Fight Night 61 fan Q&A. “I’m just going to help him be the strongest champ he can be. At that point, I may go down to 185 or do some superfights or whatever.

“I’ve got to chase the belt. I can’t just be hanging around, doing these fights for money. I’ve got to fight for something. At that point, if he wins, I’ll probably drop down to 185.”

Evans was initially expected to headline Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 61 event in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. However, he was forced to endure a second knee surgery and now isn’t expected to return to action until later this year. When he does step back in the cage, it will have been nearly two full years between fights.

In the meantime, Johnson has ascended to the top of the UFC’s light heavyweight division and now meets Jon Jones at May’s UFC 187 event. Evans believes Johnson’s raw power will earn him a knockout win, and “Suga” has no desire to face his Blackzilian training partner.

That would necessitate a change in divisions, and Evans believes that much like fellow former 205-pound champ Lyoto Machida, he can also trim his frame down to 185 pounds – though he knows it wouldn’t be the easiest process.

“If Anthony wins, I definitely would strongly consider moving down to 185,” Evans said. “One of the biggest problems for me is just being able to cut down. Believe it or not, I’m pretty heavy. I get up to like 240 (pounds). If I went down, it would have to be over a period of time, and I’d have to do it like Machida did it.

“Machida went down and stayed down and kind of chipped away at it. That’s what I would have to do: Reset my body to go lower and lower and then kind of stay lower. It would be a hard cut for me cutting from 240 all the way to 185.”

There is, however, one very feasible scenario in which Evans could see himself staying in the light heavyweight division, even with Johnson as champ. Evans said he’s very interested in a rematch with former training partner and current champ “Bones” Jones, and if Johnson is able to take his belt, Evans would like to welcome him to the cage on his way back to a title shot.

“I want to compete against the best, and if Jones loses, I definitely want to fight Jones again,” Evans said. “We were teammates. We competed against each other, and it was a great time, but I still am competitive, and I would like to get that fight back. No matter what, I want to get that.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 61, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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