SourceQuinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson has signed a bout agreement to meet Rashad Evans at UFC 114, it was reported Friday night Australian time. The fight will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 29th and will be Jackson’s first appearance in the UFC cage since beating Keith Jardine at UFC 96 nearly a year ago.
Jackson had been in dispute with the UFC regarding his decision to pull out of UFC 107 to take a part in The A-Team movie. A blog post he made in September apparently announcing his retirement also caused concern on the UFC’s part, with the company’s legal team filing a motion for declaratory relief (asking a court to determine the legal rights of each party under the contract between the UFC and Ramapge).
That lawsuit is now likely to be scrapped after Jackson signed the bout agreement for a fight with Evans. Shortly before Jackson left for Australia to corner his team mate Michael Bisping, he told Fighters Only that he would be returning to the Octagon. He said retirement had crossed his mind but that he had instead decided to honour his obligations under the contract he has with the UFC.
Contract disputes are not uncommon between the UFC and its fighters, but the UFC generally wins. Randy Couture famously attempted to resign from his contract but was unsuccessful, while the UFC this week won a court battle with its former champion Ken Shamrock and will now be pursuing him for legal fees.
So I guess May 29th, it's on! This card is going to be amazing >.<