Rashad Evans Says He Considered Retirement Following Jon Jones Loss
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 02.01.2013
He's happy to be back though...
Rashad Evans recently spoke with MMAjunkie about his time off following his loss to Jon Jones at UFC 145, his fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 156 and more. Check out the highlights:
On taking time off: "The layoff was perfect for me. It allowed me to sort out some things I needed to sort out. And it was kind of something I didn't really plan for – it was something that just happened, and I just went with it. I had other opportunities to do other things, and it allowed me to just clear my mind out and miss the sport of fighting again."
On doing work as an analyst for UFC pre- and post-fight shows: "A lot of it had to do with (the Jones fight). A lot of it had to do with my personal situation outside the cage. And a lot of it had to do with just me trying to reevaluate where I am in my life. I'm a very analytical person, so I like to think a lot. I just felt like I was really at a place where I was settling into a lot of situations and I really needed to have a moment to just take a step back and breathe. The last couple years, so much has happened – I didn't really have a chance to sit down and say, 'Wait, what the hell just happened?' to evaluate anything that happened."
On his decision to return to active fighting: "What I came up with is, I love to fight, and I am a fighter. And I'm going to do this – fighting – until I don't have the ability to do it anymore. Until I don't have the ability to do it the way I want to do it anymore. I want to do other things as well. I want to do anything that comes along with (fighting) because this is an opportunity that after it's gone, it's gone. So I want to make sure I make the most of it."
On whether he considered retirement: "There was a time...especially being an analyst. You get to hang out and get to watch the fights – that was the fun part. But still being competitive, I still have that drive to want to go in there. Being an analyst presents its own challenges, but nothing like actually being in there and doing it."
