UFC 114 takes place on Saturday night, May 29 in Las Vegas featuring one of the most eagerly anticipated matchups in years with Rashad Evans fighting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The two former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions met after Rampage’s win over Keith Jardine at UFC 96 with a war of words that started in the cage for the live PPV audience to see. The two then met on The Ultimate Fighter 10 as coaches of the heavyweight cast and the verbal battles continued. Now the two finally get to settle the score at UFC 114 and our predictions for the event are below. Also be sure to check out ProFighting-fans.com, your leader for the top UFC news, for a live UFC 114 blog on Saturday night as well as the UFC 114 results as each fight becomes official.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans
Two former light-heavyweight champions meet in the UFC 114 main event to become the new # 1 contender in the 205-pound division as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (30-7) takes on TUF 10 coaching rival Rashad “Suga” Evans (14-1-1). Evans won at UFC 108 in January over Thiago Silva and Jackson won over a year ago at UFC 96 via unanimous decision against Keith Jardine.
Jackson, 31, is a former collegiate wrestler who now trains at the Wolfslair MMA Academy in England. He was a PRIDE star up until his PRIDE 31 victory over Dong Sik Yoon. He joined the UFC in February 2007 with a UFC 67 victory over Marvin Eastman and then won the 205-pound belt at UFC 71 over Chuck Liddell. He defended his title once in a September 2007 unanimous decision victory over Dan Henderson, but lost in his very next fight at UFC 86 against Forrest Griffin. He has since won back-to-back bouts over Wanderlei Silva and Keith Jardine.
Evans, 30, is a Greg Jackson’s-trained fighter who made his pro debut in April 2004. He churned out five straight victories before winning the TUF 2 heavyweight contest. He immediately dropped to light-heavyweight afterwards and went undefeated in eight bouts that followed, becoming the champ at UFC 92 in December 2008 with a victory over Forrest Griffin. He lost the belt at UFC 98 after getting knocked out by Lyoto Machida, but won his UFC 108 bout via decision over Thiago Silva.
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