It takes a certain calibre of fighter to lose four fights in a row and not get cut from the UFC.
While you will get anomalies who survive such skids in order to fill weaker divisions, generally this leeway is reserved for warriors who’ve earned the right to keep fighting.
Former two-weight world champion BJ Penn, two-time heavyweight king Frank Mir and former welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy all remained in the promotion after losing four on the bounce. Former UFC light heavyweight champion and the second man to win the Ultimate Fighter, Rashad Evans, also wants to join this group.
‘Suga’ went nearly nine years in the sport without suffering back-to-back losses. He got some momentum following that skid, but his two-fight win streak was disrupted by a string of knee injuries which saw him sit on the sidelines for nearly two years.
Upon returning, he lost a decision to Ryan Bader and was subsequently matched up against Glover Teixeira. After being rendered unconscious for just the second time in his career by the cinder-block hands of the Brazilian, he opted for a change of scenery.
A move down to middleweight hasn’t proved to be very fruitful for Evans. He is 0-2 in the division after losing to middling 185lbers Daniel Kelly and Sam Alvey.
While a four-fight skid leaves an unsightly mark on his professional record, the last two being split decisions in which he didn’t incur much damage means that the calls for retirement haven’t been all that loud. He’s not getting outclassed, embarrassed or badly hurt, but he does have unfinished business, as he told MMA Fighting.
“I can’t retire like this. I would never know peace again in my life. Endless nights I would be left looking at the ceiling unable to accept reality.”
You can hardly blame him for wanting to get one back in the win column. This is the same guy who knocked out Chuck Liddell cold and took the title from Forrest Griffin.
He’s earned the right to go out on his own terms.
