What's the story?
Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans revealed, on the latest edition of the MMA Hour, that he was pulled from the Madison Square Garden card at UFC 205 because of a “misunderstanding” with his brain MRI report.
In case you didn't know...
The 37-year-old Evans was all set to take on Tim Kennedy in his Middleweight debut at UFC 205, however, the bout was scrapped as a result of irregularities on an MRI scan of Evans' brain. When the fight was set to happen at UFC 206, the Ontario Athletic Commission once again blocked it for the exact same reason.
The heart of the matter
Despite this, in the last few days, the UFC veteran has come out and given a different account of what happened.
"I’m going to fight. What happened in New York was a misunderstanding with the brain MRI thing. The radiologist read the same radiology exam, and then gave two different assessments of it. Upon further review after having everything tested, it was pretty clear what happened, and it was just a radiologist not doing his due diligence. At the end of the day it cost me, it is what it is and I was able to put it behind me and move forward."
What's next?
Evans has pinpointed March or April as a potential return date to the Octagon, with Anderson Silva being his desired opponent. However, with The Spider currently tied up in an imminent bout against Derek Brunson, Evans will have to start looking elsewhere for the time being.
"Suga" is on a two-fight losing streak following defeats at the hands of Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader, which prompted his decision to move down in weight class.
Sportskeeda's take
It's a shame that this series of events happened to Evans because it seems like the legend is entirely focused on making another strong run in the UFC. However, you have to question how smart the decision is to return considering he's only fought twice since 2013 and has won just two of his last six bouts.
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