{"id":270187,"date":"2018-02-15T08:36:30","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T16:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=270187"},"modified":"2018-02-18T10:43:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-18T18:43:40","slug":"rashad-evans-eludes-contract-problems-michael-bisping-ufc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/rashad-evans\/rashad-evans-eludes-contract-problems-michael-bisping-ufc\/","title":{"rendered":"Rashad Evans alludes to “contract problems” between Michael Bisping and UFC"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a few months, it looked as though former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping would partake in the final fight of his illustrious career in the main event of the UFC’s March 17 stop in London, England. At the time<\/a>, it looked as though his opponent would be a fellow veteran and long-time friend in former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans.<\/p>\n

Eventually, however, this plan fell through. Bisping’s retirement plans were moved to the back burner, and Evans was left without an opponent.<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Evans discussed the cancellation of this plan. Apparently, he’d already begun training when the bout fell through. As far as he knows, it was all because of “contract problems” between Bisping and the UFC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started training and getting ready for the fight, but then I didn\u2019t hear anything back about a contract,” Evans said (h\/t Peter Carroll of MMAFighting.com<\/a>). Finally, I got a contract, but that was on the day that I learned that Bisping wasn\u2019t going to take the fight. He wasn\u2019t going to do the fight because he was having some kind of contract problems with the UFC.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the fight will happen now,” he added. “I think that was fight that made sense to him at that moment. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s something that\u2019s going to make sense for him. It may appeal to him, it may not. I really don\u2019t know, but I\u2019m not going to sit around and wait for it. I\u2019ll just fight whoever and see what comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apparently, Evans and Bisping didn’t actually communicate much as this fight was being put together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke twice: once was when I accepted the fight \u2014 it was really respectful, \u2018Good luck in camp\u2019, kind of like the situation I had with Chael [Sonnen] \u2014 and the second time was when he told me that he wasn\u2019t going to do the fight because of his situation. I didn\u2019t ask him, I can only speculate, but I don\u2019t know.”<\/p>\n