At 37 years old and with nothing left to prove as a prizefighter, Rashad Evans went to the basement to find himself before Saturday’s bout with Sam Alvey.
That basement belongs to Jerry Nappi, father-in-law of another former UFC champion, Frankie Edgar, and a home to some of the baddest men on the planet over the last several years. And it was in Toms River that Evans found his hunger again. Though not at first.
“I felt like I paid my dues already, and there I was, back in the same setting that I had back in Jackson’s,” Evans said. “The first day, I was like, ‘Man, I’m going home. I can’t do this.’ Then a little voice popped in my head, saying, ‘You paid your dues, but you gotta pay ‘em all over again. You’re never done.’”
Eventually, as Evans trained with Mark Henry and his gang of killers in New Jersey, the former light heavyweight boss saw what he was missing over the last three-plus years since his most recent victory over Chael Sonnen in November 2013.
“I’m learning to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations,” he said. “I haven’t had the comforts of home and I’ve been missing it, but at the same time, being away does something for me that I can’t get by being home. I was a fighter who reached great success being on the road and making a camp on the road and then finding comfort in it. I need to have that away feeling, that feeling that I’m fighting to get back to something.”
What he’s looking to get back has little to do with world titles or big wins. He’s done all that, from winning the Ultimate Fighter season two title to earning a world championship at 205 pounds. And despite a three-fight losing streak since the Sonnen bout, if he walked away tomorrow, his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame should follow next summer. What he’s chasing is more abstract.
Chris Weidman had,” Evans says, referring to the former middleweight champion’s stirring July win over Kelvin Gastelum that snapped a three-fight losing streak.“I was in a place where a lot of people counted me out, I had to doubt myself at times, and I want to be in a position where I could truly walk away from the sport knowing that I did it my way and I did it consistently when the odds were against me. So no matter what I’m facing in life after fighting, I know I’ll get through it because I’ve been through it before. That’s what it’s about for me. It’s a personal thing.
“The fight hasn’t left me yet. I just pray that I leave the fight before the fight leaves me.”
