Did you know that former UFC champions Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Rashad Evans were supposed to fight this month? Well, now they’re not.
Both Evans and Jackson took to social media on Friday, revealing that their scheduled scrap at the ICS Mania 1 event in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is no longer on the docket due to unfulfilled “contractual obligations” on the side of Signature Punch Promotions.
“Sad news for @sugarashadevans and myself,” Jackson wrote on Instagram. “I’m disappointed to say that we have to pull out of the boxing match on April 12th because contractual obligations wasn’t fulfilled. I’ve lost confidence in the promotion of this fight. Once again I apologize for this bad news for everyone that got flights n fight tickets.”
Evans confirmed the cancellation in his own post.
“I’m disappointed to announce the fight between @rampagejackson will NOT take place April 12th in Albuquerque at the PIT,” Evans wrote. “There were contractual obligations not met, so we had to make this difficult decision to pull the fight. However we do remain hopeful that this fight can happen at a later date. Sorry to you fight fans, we were really excited to put on a show. Thank you all for the support!”
Evans also revealed that the two fighters ultimately opted to take a step back and “let the lawyers” handle it, but expressed hope that things would be worked out and that the fight would be rescheduled for a later date.
While ‘Rampage’ is out, ICS claims Evans will still compete on the card
Interestingly, ICS also posted on Instagram that same day, confirming that the undercard and the scheduled co-main event between Fernando Vargas Jr. and Gonzalo Coria is still on. The promotion also claimed that Rashad Evans would face a new opponent in the evening’s headliner.
Evans and ‘Rampage’ previously fought inside the Octagon at UFC 114 in May 2010. Evans won the bout via unanimous decision.
‘Suga’ retired from MMA in 2018 amid a five-fight losing streak, but returned to the sport in 2022 under the Eagle FC banner, defeating Gabriel Checco.
Jackson has not fought since a first-round knockout against Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 237 in December 2019.
