DFW: ‘Rashad didn’t want to hurt the ‘Rashad brand’
When informed of Evans’ stance, White was surprisingly calm. He took a deep breath and sighed. “That’s the weirdest comment…
When informed of Evans’ stance, White was surprisingly calm. He took a deep breath and sighed.
“That’s the weirdest comment I have ever heard in my life,” White told ESPN.com “[Rashad] is scheduled to fight in March.
“We offered him a fight in September; he turned it down. He said he didn’t want to harm his brand. I don’t know what the Rashad Evans brand is, or what that means, but he said he didn’t want to harm it. It’s not like we were keeping him from fighting, he chose to wait for Shogun. It’s not our fault; Shogun had knee surgery.”
Evans doesn’t deny receiving a fight offer in September from UFC officials, but says his focus has been solely on facing Rua.
But Evans’ position of only wanting to fight Rua is softening. He is willing to face another opponent, if the fight has title implications. Evans finds an interim title bout appealing, and believes the UFC should consider making that option available to him.
“If they say that I can fight so-and-so for the interim title … then it’s something. I don’t know,” said Evans, who is 15-1-1.
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