Rashad Evans’ Return, ‘Bigfoot’ Silva vs. Tyrone Spong Highlight Eagle FC Debut in U.S.

Rashad Evans will end his retirement to compete on Eagle Fighting Championship’s United States debut on Jan. 28.

Yahoo Sports first reported Evans return. The former UFC champion is expected to compete at 205 pounds against an as yet to be announced opponent. “Suga” retired following a 53-second knockout loss to Anthony Smith at UFC 225 on June 9, 2018 – his fifth consecutive defeat within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 42-year-old New York native owns a 19-8-1 career mark that includes victories over the likes of Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson, Michael Bisping, Stephan Bonnar, Tito Ortiz, Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson.

Eagle FC is the MMA promotion owned by retired former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The event, entitled Eagle FC 44, is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight duel between Antonio Silva and Tyrone Spong and will be held in Miami. ESPN was first to report the main event matchup.

A former EliteXC champion, “Bigfoot” Silva has compiled a 19-13 record while competing for organizations such as the UFC and Strikeforce. The 42-year-old Brazilian is winless in his last six MMA appearances. In addition, Silva has suffered KO defeats to Rico Verhoeven in kickboxing and to Gabriel Gonzaga in Bare Knuckle FC.

Spong, meanwhile, has not competed in MMA since going 2-0 under the World Series of Fighting banner from 2012 to 2013. The 36-year-old Suriname native is an accomplished combat sports athlete who won multiple titles in kickboxing and is currently the WBC Latino heavyweight champion and WBO Latino heavyweight champion in boxing.