Did you know that former UFC champions Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Rashad Evans were supposed to compete this month? Well, that’s not the case now.
Both Evans and Jackson joined social media on Friday to reveal that scheduled scraps at the ICS Mania 1 event in Albuquerque, New Mexico are no longer on the docket due to an unfulfilled “contractual obligation” on the part of the Signature Punch Promotion.
“Sad news for @sugarashadevans and me,” Jackson wrote on Instagram. “I am disappointed that I have to get out of the boxing match on April 12th as my contractual obligations were not met. I have lost confidence in promoting this fight. Once again, I apologise for this bad news to everyone who has gotten flights and tickets for the fight.”
Evans confirmed the cancellation in his own post.
“We are disappointed to announce that the fight between @RampageJackson will not take place on April 12th in Albuquerque in Pitt,” Evans wrote. “The contractual obligations were not met, so we had to make this difficult decision to make this difficult decision. But we hope that this fight will happen later. Sorry to fight the fans, we were really excited to hold the show.
Evans also revealed that the two fighters eventually chose to take a step back and “to the lawyer” to handle it, but hoped that things would be resolved and the fight would be rescheduled at a later date.
While “Rampage” is out, ICS claims Evans will still compete on the card
Interestingly, ICS posted on Instagram on the same day to confirm that the Undercard and the scheduled co-main event between Fernando Vargas Jr. and Gonzalocolia is still on. The promotion also claimed that Rashad Evans will face a new opponent in the evening headlining.
Evans and “Rampage” had previously fought within UFC 114’s Octagon in May 2010. Evans won the match by unanimous decision.
“Suga” retired from MMA in 2018 amid five consecutive losses, but returned to sports in 2022 under the Eagle FC banner, beating Gabriel Checco.
Jackson has not fought since his first round knockout against Fedor Emelianenko on Bellator 237 in December 2019.