With the UFC 113 card quickly filling up, and a welterweight bout between Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley likely co-headlining the event, the highly anticipated light-heavyweight grudge match between former UFC 205-pound champions and bitter rivals Quinton Jackson (30-7) and Rashad Evans (14-1-1) has been moved to UFC 114 on May 29 in Las Vegas, NV.
News of the fight's move to UFC 114 was first reported by Yahoo Sports' Dave Meltzer, who received a text message from UFC President Dana White about the decision.
An unlikely indication that Evans vs. Jackson would be moved to UFC 114 came from Josh Koscheck, who recently announced on his official Twitter account that his welterweight fight against Paul Daley is the co-headliner for UFC 113.
The bitter feud between Jackson and Evans started at UFC 96 last March when Evans was still the UFC light-heavyweight champion. After Jackson beat Evans' teammate, Keith Jardine, in the evenings' main event, Evans came into the ring and a heated verbal exchange ensued.
The pair were supposed to fight at UFC 98 in May, however, Jackson opted not to take the bout due to injuries. Lyoto Machida instead filled in for Jackson and captured the light-heavyweight belt by defeating Evans.
The UFC took advantage of the Jackson and Evans feud, and booked them to be coaches on the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Evans and Jackson were supposed to clash at the conclusion of the series and the pair were set to fight in the main event of UFC 107 on Dec. 12 in Memphis, Tennessee; which is Jackson's hometown. However, Jackson withdrew from the bout due to his decision to accept the role as B.A. Baracus, which was originally played by Mr. T in the 1980s, in "The A-Team" remake (due out in June 2010).
UFC President Dana White was not too fond of Jackson decision to withdraw from the event and heavily criticized him for it. Both parties tried to resolve the situation and save the Evans vs. Jackson UFC 107 bout during the UFC 102 weekend in August, but it appeared that things took a turn for the worse as the event grew near, and the situation was left unresolved.
As a result of White's harsh comments, Jackson went on to retire from MMA. His retirement came as a shock to most, and many thought he would return. Jackson's retirement was indeed short-lived, as he decided, after filming the "A-Team", that he would return to finish out his contract with the UFC.
Shortly thereafter, White confirmed Jackson's return and said he was over his feud with Jackson.
"If anyone should be upset, it's 'Rampage,'" said White. "I'm over it. I want to make that fight (Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans) happen. Jackson is still with us. He'll be fighting in the next few months."
Jackson has won his last two bouts against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 and Keith Jardine at UFC 96 last March. Prior to the wins, he suffered his first Octagon loss against Forrest Griffin in a UFC light-heavyweight title bout at UFC 86 in July 2008. Jackson has put together a 5-1 UFC record, with other Octagon wins coming over Marvin Eastman, Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson.
"Rampage" made waves in the MMA world prior to joining the UFC in the now-defunct Pride organization, where he put...







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