Former UFC champion Rashad Evans is in positive spirits following the most brutal loss of his career.

Evans (19-8-1 MMA, 14-8-1 UFC) was finished for just the second time in his career when he was knocked out cold in just 53 seconds by Anthony Smith (28-14 MMA, 5-3 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 225. The fight ended in highlight-reel fashion with “Suga” getting dropped with a knee and then finished off with a nasty punch.

It pushed Evans’ losing skid to five fights. He hasn’t won since November 2013, and during his skid, Evans has tried everything from dropping to the middleweight division, facing lesser competition, and even moving back up to light heavyweight again.

At 38 and with the losses stacking up, Evans’ future is uncertain. Today, though, he released his first post-fight comments.

Although he didn’t commit to retirement or fighting again, his statement had a very reflective tone (via <a href="

At one time FIGHTING was bigger than LIFE. Now LIFE is bigger than FIGHTING. It was easy to FIGHT for me because I came into this world raising hell FIGHTING. Then LIFE over time swaddled me like a parent does a screaming child and calmed me until I could see there was nothing to scream about. LIFE reveals to us all one day its beauty and its GRACE. Part of its beauty and GRACE is SURRENDER. Not SURRENDER in the way we think but a yielding nature that allows LIFE’S true beauty to be seen without non attachment. Only through non attachment can we truly see the beauty of LIFE and its random but beautiful balance. Our attachments in LIFE gives us the pain that make LIFE unbearable at times. Those attachments keeps us all pretending to some degree even though we are scared to death of what tomorrow can bring. I am at peace at what happened last night. I am a true FIGHTER at heart and there is no greater peace than when I get a chance to bare my soul for millions to see. 24 times I was successful and I experienced heights I never would’ve dreamed were possible and 8 times I came up short. Those 8 times I came up short laid the true seeds of growth as a person. In each one of my defeats I learned more about LIFE which made me into the person I was destined to be. I thank my opponent Anthony Smith for giving me yet another chance to grow as a person. As for my future I do not know where I will go from here but I never did know anyways. I was just making it up as I went along.😂😂😂 I joke but in reality that is the truth. In actuality none of us know what is ahead from one moment to the next. We all just hope it’s something we want. Sometimes it is something we want and some times it isn’t. But the secret in LIFE is accepting both as if you chose them. Which is true Alchemy. In the End what will be will be because that is all LIFE has ever been. Everything else is an illusion of the mind. I am well and I am beyond blessed for those of you waiting to text to me and don’t know what to say.. 😂😂😂 (the first text is always awkward after someone has been ko’d).😬 “Do I say good job, nice try, I love you or everything will be ok” 🤔 😂😂😂 Have a blessed day.

Although Evans said he unsure what the future holds, others have a stronger opinion about where the former 205-pound titleholder should go from here.

Smith, who put away Evans quickly in their UFC Fight Pass-streamed preliminary-card matchup at United Center in Chicago, said he would like to see his opponent make an exit from fighting and take up a full-time role as an analyst.

“I try not to make that decision for people or put that on people, but if you look at the way he’s performing, it’s about what’s left,” Smith said (watch it above). “I don’t think Rashad’s got a whole lot left to prove. I would hate for him to continue taking fights and continue losing, and not only do physical damage as he goes, but taint the things he’s already done. He’s accomplished a lot, and I hope he just enjoys sitting behind the analysts desk and contributing that way, because he’s got a lot to contribute there.”

UFC President Dana White also weighed in at the post-UFC 225 news conference. He indicated Evans could be leaning toward retirement based on a post-fight conversation they had, but White said he wanted to give Evans the opportunity to make a definitive decision on his own.

“When he lost I had him come back to my room and we hung out and talked,” White said. “It’s sad. Rashad was on Season 2 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ He was around through the whole building of this company. We all get old, man. This is a young man’s sport. He won ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and he became a world champion. He was with this team where he was the guy and was helping build all these young up-and-coming fighters. He’s been in big, huge fights. He’s been on the ride with us the whole way, and he got to close it out in his hometown of Chicago. So, not a bad run.”

For complete coverage of UFC 225, check out the UFC Events section of the site.