To put it quite simply, Rashad Evans did not look good in his last fight in the UFC, a unanimous decision loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 156. In the fight Evans was very hesitant to engage offensively, turning it into one of the more forgettable bouts not only of the evening, but of Rashad’s entire career.
Now, set to face Dan Henderson at UFC 161, Rashad knows that he is to the point where he could be bounced from the UFC with another loss (via ESPN):
“This is the type of fight that keeps you up at night, because you want to do well,” Evans told MMA Mania.
“My back is against the wall, and this is when I perform at my best.
“In the fight business, you’re only as good as your next fight. If you lose two or three then you’re done. My manager Bill Robinson always says, ‘You’re either one fight away from getting a title shot and becoming champion or you’re two losses away from being cut from UFC.'”
Henderson is coming off his own uninspired loss, a bout with Lyoto Machida that saw very little engaging — though more by Machida’s gameplan design than Henderson’s unwillingness.
At the very least, the fight needs to be exciting. Another loss in a bad fight probably wouldn’t give the UFC a ton of incentive to keep Rashad after three losses with their need to cut down on the number of fighters under contract.