At UFC 209 earlier this year, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rasahd Evans made his highly anticipated UFC middleweight debut after several setbacks in his drop to middleweight.

Entering into the Octagon at UFC 209 against Olympic Judoka Dan Kelly, Rashad Evans was riding a 2-fight skid that saw him drop back to back losses to Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira, with the second one being a rather vicious knockout loss.

In an interview with MMAMania, Evans explained how he feels as though the nearly year-long layoff following his loss to Glover Teixeira resulted in a bit of frustration in regards to attempting to get in a rhythm:

“I was kind of disappointed in my performance, just because I didn’t perform the way I feel like I really could have. I feel like just getting in a good, competitive rhythm, being out there more than just one time a year, my next performance will be 10 times better. It’s really, really hard to compete against these guys who are competing every few months if you are not competing at all. No matter who you are, it’s just a competitive rhythm being out in the Octagon; the feel of it, feeling comfortable in the cage. When you feel comfortable in the cage, it allows you to just fight and not second guess and contemplate your next move when you are in free mode. I just need to go out there and fight as soon as possible.”

With all of that being said, Evans also explained that he isn’t leaving the 185 pound division just yet, and that he would like to fight former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva. Silva of course was riding a 2-fight skid before snapping the losing streak at UFC 208, where he picked up a decision win over Derek Brunson.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/14/2017.