Rashad Evans says bout with Anderson Silva the only one he'd take at middleweight in the UFC

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"I thought about [moving to middleweight], then I thought about how hard that weight cut is. I used to wrestle at 174 in college, I would cut so much weight on a continuous basis and I was like, 'You know what? If I ever have to compete again, I'm not cutting weight like that.' Because what ends up happening is, the philosophy is, 'Oh well you go down to a lower weight and you'll be stronger.' Not necessarily. Some people go down to a lower weight and they're actually weaker, and I felt like when I was the best athlete I could be in college wrestling, is when I wrestled to my natural weight. So that's what I try to do in fighting, I try to compete at my natural weight. I may go to 185 and not be the same fighter because I'm maybe cutting too much weight.

Anderson [Silva] is somebody I would love to fight because when it's all said and done, whether you win or lose, to compete against the best in the sport is really what it's all about. You know, if I can walk away from my career and say I competed against some of the best in the sport in my time and era, then I can wrap up and say I had a really great career. So if the opportunity comes, and that fight happens, yeah I would drop to 185 to fight."

-Rashad Evans talks to ProMMANow.com about his thoughts on moving to middleweight (transcribed by Fight Cove).

Penick's Analysis: That's the type of fight the UFC could be more likely to put together than some others, but that doesn't necessarily make it a likelihood. Evans is in a tough spot at 205 lbs. right now after his loss to Jones. He's capable of defeating just about anyone in the division, but with how the first fight played out a rematch isn't going to happen anytime soon. If he did want to make a drop to middleweight, he'd be much more likely to make another title run. As he doesn't want to make that move, he's stuck for now. He'll have to figure out just what makes the most sense for him, and if that's keeping himself at 205 lbs. with no title opportunities anytime soon, that's where he'll stay. But a bout between Rashad and Anderson Silva could make for a really good event for the UFC sometime in the next year.

Kyle Bradley  Jai Bradney  Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito