15 years removed from their first-ever meeting at UFC 114, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Rashad Evans are set to run it back inside the squared circle.
Both fighters confirmed their meeting which is scheduled to go down sometime in 2025 under the Influencer Crossover Series. The promotion confirmed as such on Instagram, revealing that the two would fight at an event dubbed ICS Mania I in Albequerque, New Mexico.
“IT’S ON! Y’all thought it was over? Nah,” Jackson wrote on social media. “Time to settle this once and for all! Rashad “Suga” Evans got me last time, but that was then—this is NOW. Albuquerque, NM | 2025 (TBA). This ain’t just a fight; it’s a reckoning. Let’s see if Suga can handle Rampage 2.0! Stay tuned for the venue and PPV details. Time 4 more Black on Black crime! Follow @ICSBoxing & @SignaturePunchBoxing for updates.”
In their first meeting, Evans scored a unanimous decision victory over ‘Rampage’ in a non-title main event after the pair had spent several weeks coaching opposite one another on the 10th season of the UFC’s long-running reality series, The Ultimate Fighter. Evans ultimately walked away from mixed martial arts in 2018 amid a five-fight winless streak, but he recently returned to the cage in January 2022 for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s promotion, Eagle FC.
‘Suga’ earned a win over Gabriel Checco at the event, bringing an end to a near-decade-long run without a victory.
‘Rampage’ Set to Fight for the First Time Since 2019
A year after Evans initially laid down his gloves, ‘Rampage’ did the same following a first-round knockout loss against heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 237. That brought an end to his run with the promotion, going 5-3 in the process.
Having competed in PRIDE, the UFC, and Bellator, Jackson has shared the cage with some of the biggest names in light heavyweight history, including Dan Henderson, Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Forrest Griffin, Lyoto Machida, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, and Glover Teixeira.
‘Rampage’ also made his PRIDE FC debut against Japanese legend Kazusha Sakuraba in July 2001 — a fight that only earned him a paltry $10,000 paycheck.
Relive the former light heavyweight champion’s greatest KOs below:
