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Cape Town - After nearly four years Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua may be finally meeting inside the Octagon with reports coming out today that the contest between the former light heavyweight champs is being targeted for UFC in April.
The fight had originally been booked for March of 2011 when Rua was still champion, however, the fight fell through after Evans injured his knee and had to withdraw from the contest according to Nick Strickland from MMALatest.com.
Rua (23-10) went on to lose to Evan’s replacement Jon Jones at UFC 128, though he now enters the fight coming off a win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira back in August last year.
That win ended a two-fight losing streak at the hands of Ovince St. Preux and Dan Henderson. The UFC 190 win over Nogueira came at a price as the former PRIDE and UFC champ had to have his right shoulder surgically repaired after the fight.
Rua holds UFC wins over Forest Griffin, Brandon Vera, Chuck Lidell and Lyoto Machida.
Evans (19-4-1) returned after nearly a two-year absence from the sport due to knee injuries last October, losing to Ryan Bader via unanimous decision at UFC 192.
The former light heavyweight champion and TUF winner was coming off wins over Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen prior to the UFC 192 loss.
Evans has been a top contender throughout his career and is looking to get back to the title starting with a win over Rua.
UFC officials have yet to announce a venue for the event.
A highly anticipated match up between two lightweight contenders Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov is also said to be in the works for that evening.
