Rashad Evans to undergo surgery, expected to be out six months
Ex-UFC champ Rashad Evans (21-3-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC) will undergo surgery this week in Los Angeles to repair a knee injury suffered in training for his now-scrapped bout with Daniel Cormier at Saturday’s UFC 170.
Evans’ medical team expects him to be out of action for six weeks, according to a statement released by his team, Blackzilians, but a rep today told MMAjunkie that timeline will be further solidified after the procedure is completed.
At this point, the exact nature of Evans’ injury is being withheld, the rep said.
“I am deeply disappointed to be missing the action at UFC 170, but I am, as always, incredibly grateful for the support of my family, friends, management, the UFC, and most of all my fans during this minor setback,†Evans said in a prepared statement. “Thank you for your continued messages of support. I’ll be back stronger than ever!â€
The doctor working on the ex-light heavyweight champ – Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Blades team physician Ronald S. Kvitne – is the same one that earlier this month repaired the badly injured knee of “The Ultimate Fighter 18″ winner Julianna Pena, who also traveled to Los Angeles for the procedure.
UFC President Dana White this past week said Evans was injured while drilling takedowns with “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil†winner Cezar Ferreira at the Blackzilians’ gym in Delray Beach, Fla., when his knee got caught in the mat and badly twisted.
“Rashad’s out for a while,†White said.
Evans most recently fought this past November at UFC 167, where he stopped his fellow “UFC Tonight†analyst Chael Sonnen in the first round of their pay-per-view fight. It was his second straight win since suffering through a disappointing two-fight losing streak.
Cormier (13-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is now set to fight short-notice replacement Pat Cummins (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who will meet the former Olympic wrestler in UFC 170′s co-main event at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center.
