(Quinton Jackson warily high-fives Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban at the 1st Annual Pornstar Ball in Las Vegas, back in 2009. Seriously.)
The UFC announced yesterday that light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson have agreed to square off at UFC 135, September 24th at the Pepsi Center in Denver. It will be Jones’s first title defense, after winning the belt from Mauricio Rua in March. Meanwhile, Jackson is riding back-to-back decision wins over Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill. It may not pack the kind of grudge-match heat that Jones vs. Rashad would have had, but at least Jones and Jackson disagree on the motorboating issue. So, anybody think Rampage actually has a chance against the young phenom?
A pair of heavyweight scraps have also been reportedly added to the event…
– Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton. Not exactly a step up for Browne, who’s coming off his dramatic knockout of Stefan Struve at UFC 130. Still, Broughton is on a five-fight win streak and won his UFC debut last October by choking out Vinicius Queiroz at UFC 120.
– Mark Hunt vs. Ben Rothwell. Hunt snapped a six-fight losing streak when he knocked out Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 127 in February. Rothwell is coming off a decision win over Gilbert Yvel last June, but hasn’t been active since then due to knee surgery.
UFC 135 will also feature Matt Hughes vs. Diego Sanchez, and Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto’s return against Damacio Page.