UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans plans to switch to boxing and is ready to take on old rival Quinto Jackson.
Evans and Jackson have been at each other’s throats since their MMA days, and it seems they are ready to take this battle into the boxing ring. The news comes as no surprise as rumors and speculations about a potential boxing match meet-up have been on for months.
ONE Championship originally picked up the idea, but it never came to fruition. However, it seems a date and location are already in the works. Evans revealed he is already gearing up for the occasion and has begun his training camp.
“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. It’s most likely going to be here in Florida. We’re going to do a boxing match.”
“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.”
“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.And, 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.”
Evans understands the interest in a rematch with Jackson, but the fighter reveals there is no bad blood between him and the fighter. Notwithstanding, Evans believes their past rivalry will bring more fire to the ring.
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 fighter acknowledges he is getting older and might not be able to do the things he could. He believes a bout with Jackson is something that he needs to do before he wraps up his career.
“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 to 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.”
“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?”
Evans has yet to reveal his future plans after his bout with Jackson, but he plans on taking some time off to rest as he plans the course for his next step. For now, the fighter is on a strict training diet. He has not been in a fight since 2022 when he faced Gabriel Checco at an Eagle FC event in Florida.
“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 the 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.”
