Are Rashad Evans and Alan Jouban still active fighters in the UFC?
UFC Fight Night 185 pre-show hosts Rashad Evans and Alan Jouban are staples of UFC's light heavyweight and welterweight divisions. While Alan Jouban is still an active fighter on the UFC's roster, Rashad Evans retired from professional MMA in 2018.
Rashad Evans' career trajectory went from peaks to valleys
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans (19-8-1 MMA, 14-8-1 UFC) is one of the biggest MMA stars from the pre-Conor McGregor era of the UFC. After competing in the regional circuit in the early going of his career, Evans paved his way into the UFC through the season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. 'Suga' Rashad's initial run in the UFC was a highlight reel of stellar performances against formidable opponents Chuck Lidell, Tito Ortiz, Michael Bisping and Stephan Bonnar, who were among the best that the sport had to offer at the time.
Winning the light-heavyweight title from Forrest Griffin was the highest point of Rashad Evans' UFC career but his short 145-day title reign was cut-short by Lyoto Machida. Evans' career was then marked by altering wins and loses between bout cancelations due to lingering injuries.
A lot of fighters stay active way past their prime to hurt their legacy in unprecedented ways and Rashad Evans is one of those. After reaching the peak of his career with an undefeated 13-0 record, Suga retired from professional MMA in 2018 after a first-round TKO loss against Anthony Smith with an overall 19-8-1 record. In his later career, Rashad Evans lost to lesser fighters that stood no chance at the peak of his physical abilities.
Alan Jouban is still in the mix
Alan Jouban (17-7 MMA, 8-5 UFC is one of the familiar faces in the mid-tier of the UFC's welterweight division. Since his UFC debut in August 2014, Jouban has put forth some exciting and fun-to-watch fights and holds wins over notable fighters Belal Muhammad and Mike Perry.
Now 38 years old, Alan Jouban has contemplated retirement on multiple occasions. His last fight was unanimous decision win over Jared Gooden at UFC 255 in November 2020.
In a telephonic interview with the OC Register in the lead-up to UFC 255 fight against Gooden, Jouban admitted that his retirement is in sights.
“This fight means everything to me. Because I don’t know if it’s the last one. If it is the last one, I want it to be the best one. I want it to be special. So the fight means everything.”