A
previously rumored boxing match between Rashad
Evans and Quinton
Jackson is now official for the spring.
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On Friday, the New Mexico State Athletic Commission approved a
boxing card to be held at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on
April 12. The event will be headlined by Evans and Jackson and is
co-promoted by Albuquerque’s Tapia Promotions and Florida’s
Signature Punch Promotions. The Albuquerque Journal was first to report the
details of the event. No other bouts were announced for the card,
but it will reportedly include a number of local boxers from New
Mexico.
Evans and Jackson served as opposing coaches on “The Ultimate
Fighter 10” before squaring off at UFC 114, where Evans took a
unanimous decision triumph over his rival in May 2010. Neither
Evans nor Jackson has previous professional boxing experience.
A former UFC light heavyweight champion and a “TUF 2” winner, Evans
hasn’t competed in combat sports since outpointing Gabriel
Checco at Eagle FC 44 on Jan. 28, 2022. Prior to that, the
45-year-old lost his final five Octagon appearances between 2015
and 2018. The Global Fight League recently announced that “Suga”
had been selected by the New York team in its
draft, but Evans denied his participation in the league, instead
pointing to the targeted showdown against “Rampage” as his
priority.
Jackson initially rose to prominence under the Pride Fighting
Championships banner before enjoying a brief reign as UFC light
heavyweight champ. “Rampage”, who is 46 years old, last appeared at
Bellator 237 in December 2019, when he suffered a first-round TKO
defeat to Fedor
Emelianenko.