Rashad Evans announces retirement from MMA

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La Paix

La Paix

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Jan 14, 2015
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Former UFC light heavyweight champion and The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner Rashad Evans has fought for the last time.

On Monday, the 38-year-old Evans announced on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show that he has made the decision to retire after having some time to think following his first-round knockout loss to Anthony Smith at UFC 225 on June 9 at the United Center in Chicago.

“I’m gonna retire,” Evans said. “There’s just so much that goes into it all, but at one point in my life I felt as if fighting was everything. It 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 lot of 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.

Rashad Evans announces retirement from MMA
 
Howard Moon

Howard Moon

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Sep 6, 2015
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I wish him well and I hope he is healthy enough to enjoy his post MMA life.

This is overdue by at least 5 years, imo. He has the broadcasting gig and he hasn't been any kind of legit contender for a very long time. No need at all to take any more damage.

Good luck and happiness to him.
 
D241

D241

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Jan 14, 2015
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Probably should've retired before deciding to go to middleweight. But I know that not competing anymore would have eaten away at Rashad, so I know he had to fight to get it out of his system. Some of his last fights though I feel shortened a good lifespan for him.
 
TheEmperorRises

TheEmperorRises

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Dec 4, 2015
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That KO he scored against Liddell is still one of the most vicious I've ever seen. Consequently, being a huge Machida fan, their title fight was up there for me, as far as fights I was most excited to see.

He had a great career and should walk away proud of what he accomplished.
 
Grateful Dude

Grateful Dude

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Glad to hear, best of luck to him moving forward.

I wish retired fighters like him could transition to ref or judge positions.
 
Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $

Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $

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BirdWatcher said:


Former UFC light heavyweight champion and The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner Rashad Evans has fought for the last time.

On Monday, the 38-year-old Evans announced on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show that he has made the decision to retire after having some time to think following his first-round knockout loss to Anthony Smith at UFC 225 on June 9 at the United Center in Chicago.

“I’m gonna retire,” Evans said. “There’s just so much that goes into it all, but at one point in my life I felt as if fighting was everything. It 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 lot of 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.

Rashad Evans announces retirement from MMA
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I watched Rashad on Ariel's new show... God damn that shit was sad.

Rashad is in no way mentally healthy and ready to move on. Made me appreciate
what fighters go through. I can't call it any other way... that shit was fucking depressing
 
Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $

Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $

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Howard Moon said:
I wish him well and I hope he is healthy enough to enjoy his post MMA life.

This is overdue by at least 5 years, imo. He has the broadcasting gig and he hasn't been any kind of legit contender for a very long time. No need at all to take any more damage.

Good luck and happiness to him.
Click to expand...
Watch him on Ariel's show... He isn't doing well at all
 
benjo0101

benjo0101

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Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $ said:
Rashad's retirement interview for those interested. You can't tell me he is mentally
stable and able to move on after seeing this. You can see he's trying but if he has friends
I sincerely hope they keep a good watch on him


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYdK6AcpwPA
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I think he seems super conflicted. Just not really wanting to say the words. He'll mature into but he's really trying to come to terms with it.

Hard decision. Right decision
 
1

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His Liddell k.o. was a work of art.
Hopefully he'll come to realize he is not quitting but deciding to stop.
It's a mature decision.
 
so long

so long

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Maybe Rashad vs. Rampage 2 in Bellator next year?
Not even saying Rashad vs. Machida 2...
 
Grateful Dude

Grateful Dude

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benjo0101 said:
He would not be a good judge or ref. He's not neutral in any way.
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Im not sure what you're referring to, I've never seen him ref or judge so I couldn't tell you if he'd be good at it or not. Are you basing that on his analyst work? (which is a totally different thing than being judge/ref).

I've seen very little of him behind the desk, so maybe I'm missing something here.

My talking point was more generalized - I'd like to see retired fighters that have been around the block a few times and know the game intimately as refs and judges. It's gotta be better than some of the people we see now. There's too much money on the line for the fighters to have incompetent judges.
 
Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $

Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $

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Kneeblock said:
Seems pretty stable to me. Quitting on a losing streak is tough.
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I can see he's trying but all the crying plus all the sudden spiritual and God talk
can be a sign of mentally breaking. He never spoke all this airy' spiritualism before
Shit just seemed off like he wasn't coping with it well.

Hope he's ok though
 
M

member 603

Guest
I'm glad that he decided to retire, you can see that he still has the desire, but the body isn't willing. He wants to fight, he's conflicted because he knows he's not a contender... Hell he's not even a gatekeeper at this point... He'd be fighting for paychecks, and nowadays he can make that in commentary and coaching young up and coming competitors.

It's hard to make that decision to walk away... I've often seen coaches, teams, training partners, family and managers make that call for the fighter.... They get it, they also struggle with the fact that time and age makes mortals of us all.... Rashad was a champion and a contender for years, now he's (probably by other influences) being told he has to stop because he's not at that level anymore... You know that it's a hard pill to swallow.
 
GSPTrainingInAPool

GSPTrainingInAPool

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Dec 1, 2015
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He's set himself up well for life after fighting imo. But staying so connected to fighting it could prompt him to take another crack at it
 
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