UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans coming out of retirement for January MMA fight

Former UFC light heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer Rashad Evans is officially out of retirement and set to fight at Eagle FC 44 in Miami, Fla., according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, although Evans doesn't yet have an opponent.

Evans, 42, hasn't fought since UFC 225 in June 2018 when he was knocked out with a knee from Anthony Smith. His upcoming Jan. 28 fight will be his first outside the UFC since 2004, the first year of his professional MMA career. Evans will instead fight for Eagle FC, a Russian-based promotion that was purchased by former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020. The January event will be Eagle FC's first in the United States.

The decision to come out of retirement is one Evans has mulled for a long time. In 2019, Evans was released by the UFC by his own request, so he could return from retirement with a different promotion. In June 2021, ESPN reported that Evans was still planning to fight again and he was eyeing a marquee boxing match against the likes of Roy Jones Jr. or Logan Paul. Instead, Evans' return to combat sports will come in MMA.

Evans broke out as a star in 2005 when he won season two of the UFC's reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, at heavyweight. His ascent continued with eight wins and one draw over his first nine fights in the UFC, an unbeaten streak that included a TKO win over Forrest Griffin in 2008 to become the light heavyweight champion. 

While Evans was knocked out by Lyoto Machida in his first title defense, he bounced back to win four straight and again challenge for the belt when he fought Jon Jones in 2012. He lost that fight and struggled through knee injuries for much of the remainder of his career in the UFC. The loss to Smith was his fifth straight defeat and he announced his retirement a couple weeks after the fight.