After a drama-filled tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, which featured Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson as coaches, the long-anticipated match up between the two former UFC light heavyweight champions was put on hold for “Rampage’s” film career. However, Jackson is back, and the match up is official.
The UFC announced today that the two 205-pound enemies will be looking to officially shut one another up at UFC 114 in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 29.
The match up was originally set for UFC 107 in Memphis, Tennessee, where “Rampage” would have been the hometown favorite. Now the fight is set for a bit more of a neutral location, the MGM Grand in Vegas.
After Evans lost an opponent for the UFC 107 co-main event, the former 205-pound champion made his return to the Octagon at UFC 108 against Brazilian slugger Thiago Silva. Evans grabbed a unanimous decision and gained his first victory after losing his belt to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.
It seems like ages since “Rampage” has had a fight in the UFC. The charismatic knockout artist was last seen inside the cage picking up a decision victory over Keith Jardine, Evans’ teammate, at UFC 96 over one year ago.
This match up is certainly going to bring in the viewers for the UFC. Anyone who watched this past season of The Ultimate Fighter, or has followed the talk of the two over the last several months realizes that Evans and Jackson really do want to fight each other. This is a classic match up between bitter rivals, and one not many fans of the sport are planning to miss.
