During last nights episode of “UFC Tonight” it was revealed that a pair of former UFC light heavyweight champions would square off this summer in a rematch between Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (32-10) and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua (20-6). The bout will also mark the last fight in Jackson’s contract and he is expected to part ways with the UFC after the match.
Reporter Ariel Helwani revealed the matchup after learning the news from UFC president Dana White, no event or date was mentioned for the bout but it would certainly be featured as a headlining bout.
Jackson has been Tweeting (@Rampage4real) his unhappiness with the UFC over the past several days over a number of subjects, from being mismatched versus wrestlers, to fighting injured for years, etc.
The two fighters have met once already back in April 2005 as part of the PRIDE middleweight Grand Prix opening round in Japan. Rua would end the match at 4:47 of the first round via TKO using a barrage of soccer kicks to a downed ‘Rampage’ to end the fight as part of the PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 event.
Jackson is coming off a second straight loss in the Octagon, the first time he’s ever lost back-to-back matches. He lost a decision to Ryan Bader at UFC 144 in a bout which saw Jackson miss weight by six-pounds, and a submission loss to Jon Jones at UFC 135 for the UFC light heavyweight title.
Rua is 1-2 in his last three bouts, losing his last Octagon appearance in November in a “Fight of the Year” match against Dan Henderson at UFC 139. The two PRIDE veterans would battle for five rounds in a roller coaster ride which saw each fighter score with some big punches. Previous to that, ‘Shogun’ earned a knockout win over Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 and lost the UFC title to Jon Jones at UFC 128 via third round TKO.