Rashad Evans issues profound statement after UFC 225 KO loss to Anthony Smith

Rashad Evans’ return to the light heavyweight division did not go as he planned. Instead, the former champion was melted by a first-round knee courtesy of his foe Anthony Smith.

The loss is Evans’ fifth in a row, as he has also recently been defeated by Sam Alvey and Dan Kelly at middleweight, and Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader at light heavyweight. This unfortunate skid has unsurprisingly led many fans to the conclusion that the time has come for Evans to ride off into the sunset.

In a lengthy, post-fight statement to his Instagram page, Rashad Evans addressed his future in fighting — and in the bigger picture — with great profundity and depth. Here’s what he had to say:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj2WWO0jmn5/

“At one time FIGHTING was bigger than LIFE,” Rashad Evans said in his post. “Now LIFE is bigger than FIGHTING. It was easy to FIGHT for me because I came into this world raising hell FIGHTING. Then LIFE over time swaddled me like a parent does a screaming child and calmed me until I could see there was nothing to scream about. LIFE reveals to us all one day its beauty and its GRACE. Part of its beauty and GRACE is SURRENDER. Not SURRENDER in the way we think but a yielding nature that allows LIFE’S true beauty to be seen without non attachment. Only through non attachment can we truly see the beauty of LIFE and its random but beautiful balance. Our attachments in LIFE gives us the pain that make LIFE unbearable at times. Those attachments keeps us all pretending to some degree even though we are scared to death of what tomorrow can bring.

“I am at peace at what happened last night,” he continued. “I am a true FIGHTER at heart and there is no greater peace than when I get a chance to bare my soul for millions to see. 24 times I was successful and I experienced heights I never would’ve dreamed were possible and 8 times I came up short. Those 8 times I came up short laid the true seeds of growth as a person. In each one of my defeats I learned more about LIFE which made me into the person I was destined to be. I thank my opponent Anthony Smith for giving me yet another chance to grow as a person. As for my future I do not know where I will go from here but I never did know anyways. I was just making it up as I went along.

“I joke but in reality that is the truth. In actuality none of us know what is ahead from one moment to the next. We all just hope it’s something we want. Sometimes it is something we want and some times it isn’t. But the secret in LIFE is accepting both as if you chose them. Which is true Alchemy. In the End what will be will be because that is all LIFE has ever been. Everything else is an illusion of the mind. I am well and I am beyond blessed for those of you waiting to text to me and don’t know what to say… (the first text is always awkward after someone has been ko’d). ‘Do I say good job, nice try, I love you or everything will be ok’… Have a blessed day.”

What do you think the future holds for the former champion Rashad Evans after this latest loss?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/10/2018.