All the way back in 2010, there wasn’t a more heated rivalry in mixed martial arts than that of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Rashad Evans.
The two fighters, both former UFC light heavyweight champions, collided in the cage in May 2010 in a fight which came after the two served as competing coaches on a season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ — with Evans claiming a unanimous decision win in a three-round fight.
Now, some 15 or so years later, the two look set to once again throw down — this time in the boxing ring.
“You’ll be interested to hear that I’ve jumped into training camp, and I’m going to do a boxing match with ‘Rampage,’” Evans, 45, told MMA Fighting this week. “We’re looking to do it potentially at the end of February, and it’s most likely going to be here in Florida. We’re going to do a boxing match.
“I thought about it,” Evans said when asked about a return to mixed martial arts competition after most recently fighting back in January 2022 where he scored a unanimous decision win over Gabriel Checco. “I was like I’m 45 years old right now, and I could just be done with it all and just enjoy this phase of my life that I’m in right now. But then I will always wonder if I would have just had that one boxing match just for fun, just to try it out.
“Boxing is something I’m a huge fan of and there’s nothing better than getting another chance to fight ‘Rampage.’ ‘Rampage’ is in pretty good shape right now. He was getting ready for Shannon “The Cannon” [Briggs] so he’s in pretty good shape. I want to get a chance to do it again with it.”
Since their fractious rivalry all those years ago, tempers have cooled somewhat between the former fierce rivals.
“We’ve got a pretty decent relationship,” he said. “We’ve got a level of respect for each other, but we still have fun and we’re still clowning each other. I’ve still got to deal with him trying to clown me, or I’ll send him a message and try to clown him. We’re fiercely competitive with each other. That’s a good thing.
“After we did the movie ‘Boss Level’, it changed our relationship because we finally had a chance to have a conversation and seeing the kind of person that he truly was and working with him so close on that for a few months was a game changer as far as our relationship. With this fight, it’s fun because there’s not that anger/animosity, but at the same time, it’s still competitive.”
