UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans has ended his long association with the company and is mulling a return from retirement, according to a published report.

ESPN reported Friday that the 40-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champion is no longer a part of the company and is free to pursue other opportunities in the sport.

That ends an association which dates back to 2005, when Evans (19-8-1 MMA, 14-8-1 UFC), a former collegiate wrestler at Michigan State, won “The Ultimate Fighter 2” as a heavyweight.

“I changed my diet after I retired and it’s drastically changed my body and how I feel,” Evans said in the ESPN report. “I am definitely heavily thinking about coming back.”

Evans’ career peaked in 2008, when he knocked out Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 to claim the light heavyweight belt.

He was undefeated (13-0-1) at the time, but Evans lost in his first title defense to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98. Evans won his next four fights to get back into title contention, but lost to then-champion Jon Jones via unanimous decision at UFC 145.

From there, Evans was never able to regain his peak form, as the loss to Jones kicked off a 2-7 run to end his career. He announced his retirement following a 53-second knockout loss to Anthony Smith at UFC 225, and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July.

Evans had fought out his contract, and this was not being released, per se. But when Evans discussed the notion of a return with White, both sides agreed the former champ would be better off looking elsewhere.