According to a breaking news report from MMAWeekly.com “Suga” Rashad Evans (15-1-1) will step in for Thiago Silva at UFC 130 for a rematch with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (31-8).
No word was provided on why Silva was forced to withdraw from the bout and the website only cited a “source” as a reference with no comment from either Evan’s co-manager Malki Kawa or Jackson’s camp at this time.
It’s not hard to imagine that a rematch between these two fighters was bound to happen. In a recent interview Evans said that he and “Rampage” got into a heated argument at a local night club recently that ended up with each fighter slapping the other in the face. The hype building up to this fight and UFC 130 in general should be exciting.
Both men fought just last year at UFC 114 in May, with Evans earning a unanimous decision. Fans got to watch both men verbally spar over the tenth season as coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Evans, who beat Jackson for a #1 contender spot had to give up that position to teammate Jon Jones this past weekend after a knee injury forced him out of his title fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. “Suga” has said he’ll be out 4-6 weeks which would give him from the beginning of April to prepare for the May 28 UFC 130 event in Las Vegas. Evans has won two straight since losing the light heavyweight title to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98, beating Thiago Silva at UFC 108 and Jackson at UFC 114.
Jackson is coming off a controversial split decision win over Machida at UFC 123 and before that the loss to Evans at UFC 114. Both he and Evans were to have met at UFC 107 after the conclusion of “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” season but Jackson took a role in “The A-Team” movie portraying the role of BA Barracus, a character made famous by Mr. T. He is 3-1 in his last four fights and 6-2 overall in the UFC.
UPDATE: Just posted this bit of news and there is already an update from Tatame.com.br.
Hearing the news, we contacted by phone Thiago Silva, and the fighter was surprised. “Hurt me? I am very healthy and not wait to fight with Rampage.”
“This is a lie.” says James, supported by Conan Silveira, one of the leaders of American Top Team. “Do nothing until we arrived, the fight is marked yes.” Stay tuned to Tatame to learn more about the confusion.
Translation and update from BloodyElbow.com who caught that bit of news.
UPDATE II: It seems that Silva’s was only one of 15 fighters from UFC 125 to not be cleared by the NSAC for a clean drug test and his sample is currently being “scrutinized” which may be the reason the UFC is looking at a new opponent for Jackson. A failed drug test would put him on immediate suspension and out of his UFC 130 fight. MMAjunkie.com