Should No. 1 contenders wait for guaranteed title fights?

Rashad Evans is many things, including "The Ultimate Fighter 2" winner, a former champion, and a UFC 133 headliner.

Lately, though, he's reluctantly become something else: a poster boy for all that can go wrong when you wait for a guaranteed title shot.

In our latest MMAjunkie.com/"Inside MMA" weekly poll, we want to know if Evans – and other fighters who wait for title fights – are making the right call.

The results were revealed on Friday's new episode of HDNet's weekly MMA news show, and the results were convincing: Only 27 percent of voters believe fighters should wait for a title fight while the other 73 percent think they should book other bouts.

Evans, of course, could have never expected such bad fortune. After topping Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in May 2010 to earn a title shot, he was told then-champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua needed to recover from a knee injury.

Evans opted to wait, but he had no idea what was in store. Rua's recovery lasted well into 2011, and then, soon before their scheduled meeting at UFC 128 in March, Evans suffered his own knee injury and was forced to bow out. His then-teammate Jon Jones stepped in as a late replacement and made quick work of Rua. That set up Jones vs. Evans – which prompted Evans to split from Greg Jackson's camp and end his friendship with Jones.

The real-life grudge match then was booked for UFC 133 – until Jones said that a lingering hand injury would force him off the card and into the operating room. After having already waited 14 months for the title shot, Evans ultimately agreed to fight fellow top prospect Phil Davis (who recently was replaced by Tito Ortiz) in a No. 1 contender's bout at UFC 133 – only then to find out Jones' hand wouldn't need surgery. (With Evans booked for UFC 133, Jones then agreed to fight Jackson at UFC 135.)

So basically, all that could have gone wrong for Evans did, in fact, go wrong. (And he didn't even lose a fight.) He lost his guaranteed title shot, has sat out more than a year, missed a possible grudge match with Jones, was forced back into a No. 1 contender's bout, saw a fighter he already defeated get his spot (due to some odd circumstances) and now is forced to prepare for a new opponent on just three weeks' notice.

But simply taking another fight can have its consequences. Just ask WEC vet Josh Grispi, who was supposed to fight first-ever UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo back in January. When Aldo was forced off the card due to injury, Grispi instead fought and suffered an upset loss to Dustin Poirier. He then followed it with a TKO defeat to George Roop. So Grispi, who once was a victory away from a UFC title, now is a loss away from a likely contract termination.

So while both scenarios come with risks, which is correct? Waiting for a title shot or going through with another bout? State your case in the comments section below.