According to the latest episode (episode 25 at UFC.com) of the UFC Ultimate Insider bouts between light heavyweights Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (31-8) vs. Thiago Silva (15-2) and heavyweights Frank Mir (14-5) vs. Roy “Big Country” Nelson (15-5) are official for the upcoming UFC 130 event.
UFC 130 will serve as the title rematch between lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard after their title bout draw at UFC 125 on Jan. 1st. The event will take place on May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Jackson is coming off a controversial split decision win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 123 which helped him bounce back from a #1 contender loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 114 following their time coaching on the tenth season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Silva earned a convincing win against Brandon Vera last month at UFC 125 by earning a solid unanimous decision. The victory erased a loss, also to Evans by unanimous decision, after their UFC 106 bout just over a year ago.
Mir earned a knockout win over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovi? in his last fight at UFC 119 last September. It put the former heavyweight champ at 1-1 after a interim heavyweight title loss to Shane Carwin at UFC 111 in March. Nelson enters the bout on a losing note, having been defeated by Junior dos Santos in a #1 contender bout at UFC 117. The loss was his first under the UFC after winning two straight against Stefan Struve at UFN 21 and Brendan Schaub at the “TUF 10 Finale.”