Rashad Evans gave his own version of “I’m not impressed by your performance” on the FOX Sports 1 post-fight show Saturday night.
Evans, who was in the FOX studio as an analyst, was asked if he would be interested in a rematch with Quinton Jackson following Jackson’s unanimous decision win over Fabio Maldonado at UFC 186 in Montreal.
The answer? Oh yeah.
“I would definitely give ‘Rampage’ a rematch,” Evans said. “That’s a fight I’d really like to have. He came out there, he kind of looked alright. He had [some] things going on, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. But I’ll tell you what. If that ‘Rampage’ gets in front of me, woooo, I’m gonna highlight reel knock out on him.”
Evans and Jackson fought in the main event of UFC 114 on May 29, 2010. The card drew more 1 million buys on pay-per-view, because of the intense rivalry between the pair, which was highlighted on The Ultimate Fighter 10. Evans and Jackson are also both former light heavyweight champions and two of the best fighters in the history of the weight class.
“Rampage” also said Saturday night on FOX Sports that he would be interested in fighting Evans again in the future. This was Jackson’s first fight back in the UFC since January 2013. He won three straight in Bellator before attempting to terminate his contract, which landed him in litigation with the MMA promotion. A New Jersey judge allowed him to fight at UFC 186 this week, overturning a previous injuction.
Jackson’s future remains cloudy, but he did some good things against Maldonado on Saturday night. “Rampage” did more kicking than usual and even threw in a head kick, something he has never done in his long, illustrious MMA career. Evans, though, thinks Jackson needs to go back to his bread and butter — back to the PRIDE days.
“I think Rampage needs to get back to the old Rampage, picking people up and slamming them,” Jackson said. “That’s how he’s gonna be a contender, to really break into the top five and to be a threat in this weight class.”
It remains to be seen if that will happen. Evans, 35, is currently ranked No. 4 among UFC light heavyweight contenders. Jackson, 36, is unranked, though he’ll probably show up in the top 15 this week after beating Maldonado, who was No. 12.
Jackson’s next fight will likely be in court, though. Evans probably believes he would fare better there than in the Octagon with him. UFC fighter Dominick Cruz, another on-set analyst, attempted to defend Jackson’s performance against Maldonado, but Evans would have none of it.
“Did you watch the fight?” Evans said.