Written by Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Zuffa, LLC via Getty Images
Former UFC champion Rashad Evans never closed the door on fighting again but now he’s kicking it wide open with plans to face off with former foe Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in a boxing match.
Talks for the fight have circled for months, but Evans revealed that he’s already started his training camp with proposed date and location in the works.
“You’ll be interested to hear that I’ve jumped into training camp, and I’m going to do a boxing match with ‘Rampage,’” Evans told MMA Fighting. “We’re looking to do it potentially at the end of February, and it’s most likely going to be here in Florida. We’re going to do a boxing match.”
Rumors about the boxing match between the ex-UFC fighters started several months ago with ONE Championship actually showing interest in potentially promoting the fight.
Ultimately that opportunity never came together but Evans and Jackson didn’t give up hope on reigniting their rivalry, which dates back to coaching against each other on The Ultimate Fighter and then finally meeting in the Octagon in 2010. On that night, Evans got the better of Jackson with a unanimous decision victory.
Now nearly 15 years later, Evans is excited to run it back with Jackson but this time with boxing gloves on.
“I thought about [fighting again], and I was like I’m 45 years old right now, and I could just be done with it all and just enjoy this phase of my life that I’m in right now,” Evans explained. “But then I will always wonder if I would have just had that one boxing match just for fun, just to try it out.
“Boxing is something I’m a huge fan of and there’s nothing better than getting another chance to fight ‘Rampage.’ ‘Rampage’ is in pretty good shape right now. He was getting ready for Shannon “The Cannon” [Briggs] so he’s in pretty good shape. I want to get a chance to do it again with it.”
Evans hasn’t fought since 2022 when he returned from almost four years off to defeat Gabriel Checco at an Eagle FC event in Florida.
Immediately after his fight, Evans didn’t decide one way or another about potentially competing again, but he never used the word retirement when discussing his future. When the opportunity came along to face Jackson in a boxing match, Evans jumped at the chance to return to action.
This particular matchup also gave Evans the chance to compete again without putting his body through hell like what it routinely takes to prepare for any MMA fight.
“The big difference in me just doing this training right now with the boxing training, it just feels so much better,” Evans said. “I’m enjoying going into training, and my body’s recovering faster. I’m not having all the aches and pains. I’m not waking up and can’t step on my foot because somehow I twisted my ankle or got my foot stepped on in training and didn’t even realize it.
“With all the wrestling and grappling that goes into getting ready for fights. I’ve been really enjoying the way my body feels as it’s starting to scale up. It’s a different ball game.”
When it comes to the fight itself, Evans definitely understands the interest surrounding a rematch with “Rampage” after they engaged in one of the most intense feuds leading up to their original meeting in the UFC.
In the years since that fight, Evans admits that he’s effectively put the bad blood with Jackson behind him, although expects that the rivalry between them will heat up as they draw closer to punching each other in the face again.
“We’ve got a pretty decent relationship,” Evans said about Jackson. “We’ve got a level of respect for each other, but we still have fun and we’re still clowning each other. I’ve still got to deal with him trying to clown me, or I’ll send him a message and try to clown him. We’re fiercely competitive with each other. That’s a good thing.
“After we did the movie Boss Level, it changed our relationship because we finally had a chance to have a conversation and seeing the kind of person that he truly was and working with him so close on that for a few months was a game changer as far as our relationship. With this fight, it’s fun because there’s not that anger/animosity, but at the same time, it’s still competitive. It’s still competitive like if he sees me looking a certain kind of way [he’ll say] ‘Hey, I see you getting ready, you’re looking pretty good’ and I’ll see him hitting the mitts or something like that and I’m like OK, he’s getting ready. It’s still the friendly competition and as the fight gets closer, all the shit talking’s going to come back. So it’s going to be fun.”
The fight with Jackson also gave Evans the chance to check another box where his career was concerned, because he knew time waits for no one.
There’s going to come a time when Evans just can’t physically do the things he’s doing right now and the last thing he wanted was to live with regret.
“I understand just how fragile this time is,” Evans said. “I’m 45 years old, and I can’t even believe how fast that shit went. It went so fast that I can’t wrap my mind around it, but the gratitude that I have for the experiences that led me where I’ve been and the journey I’ve been on is amazing.
“But I understand that these moments are moments in time that I’m going enjoy for the rest of my life. So I’ve got to savor this. So I’m savoring this piece of candy like it’s my last.”
As far as the future goes, Evans isn’t going to make any big decisions until after he faces Jackson in the boxing ring. It’s the same approach he had coming out of his previous MMA fight back in 2022.
Evans plans on fighting and then taking some time to decide what does or doesn’t come next for him.
“I’m on a wait and see type of thing,” Evans said. “I want to see how I feel, how my body feels most importantly and that’s the thing. I feel great right now and I want to continue to feel great so I do this fight and I still feel great and I feel like maybe I can do another one as far as physically speaking, but even just psychologically, do I want to put myself through it? Am I hungry enough to do what needs to be done to get ready for a fight.
“Because fighting is on two parts. One, you’ve got to get your body physically ready, but the other part is the mental part. I’ve got to mentally get into savage mode. It’s not so easy when you become so civilized. It’s not easy to jump back into savage mode. I’ve got to build that grit back up in me, and it takes some time. It takes some energy. So I’ve got to see where I’m at after this fight’s over and if that fire is quenched and I don’t have nothing left in the basement then opportunities can come [but] I’m not going to put myself out there. I’m not going to go out there and get blasted by Jake Paul or nothing.”