Rampage Jackson confirms Rashad Evans boxing rematch talks, ‘coming for Jake Paul’s neck’ after

In 2009, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans coached opposite one another on a season of “The Ultimate Fighter” still widely considered to be one of its best. The two former UFC light heavyweight champions hated each other and their weekly interactions became must-see television, combining with Kimbo Slice’s participation on the show to draw big ratings and generate massive interest in their inevitable grudge match.

Unfortunately for Jackson, everything outside the Octagon was the best part of the Evans rivalry. When the two finally fought at UFC 114 in May 2010, it was primarily one-way traffic from Evans, who wrestled his way to a lopsided if largely uneventful unanimous decision.

But now, 14 years later, a rematch is on the table.

“I told him I’m getting up there in age. I want to get that get-back before I get too old,” Jackson said Monday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.”

“He’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it back. Let’s do it boxing.’ Alright, f*ck it. Let’s box. Because I always wanted to box before I got too old. Rashad knew some promoters and we were working with one group first and they were offering a video game, all this stuff, but like I said, they didn’t come through. Then this other promoter offered us more money to do it and we signed a contract — and I was supposed to get the deposit this week. When I get the deposit, then it’s real for me, because I ain’t doing this scam sh*t. I got scammed once, wasted all my motherf*cking time. But Rashad says it’s real.”

Evans recently told MMA Fighting that he’s already begun his training camp for the potential boxing rematch, and that a proposed date and location is currently being worked on for the MMA legends.

UFC 114 was a big crossroads moment for Jackson and Evans despite the careers they had afterward. Both were fresh off their moments in the sun with UFC gold and looking to get it back in their possession. For Evans, he’d rebounded off his title loss with win over a Thiago Silva, while Jackson was on a two-fight winning streak after defeating the likes of Keith Jardine and his aforementioned other big rival Silva.

Both men experienced varying degrees of success following their 2010 encounter, however both have now been out of action for several years. Evans, 45, announced his retirement from MMA following a 2022 win over Gabriel Checco under the Eagle FC banner. Similarly, Jackson, 46, has been absent from competition since a 2019 knockout loss to Fedor Emelianenko, but that inactivity hasn’t been by choice.

Jackson was slated to make his professional boxing debut in a grudge match against former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs this past June. That was, until evidence surfaced regarding illegitimate business practices conducted by the match’s promoter Quantum Sports & Media (QSM) World.

Luckily for Jackson, he never lost any money from the incident.

“We got scammed by some scammers,” he said.

“I think allegedly the scam was to act like they were putting on the fight to get investors and sponsors. I still can’t figure out for the life of me what these guys’ scam was because I was spending hours on the phone with this guy, and he was promising me a whole lot of stuff. To do my own league over there and everything, he was promising me mansions in Dubai, and I was like, ‘This is too good to be true.’

“He said I could make like $30 million a year once they went through with the investment because he was going to do a big MMA show and was going to let me put my influence in, showed me the arena. I was like, ‘OK.’ I was trying to stick it out, then Shannon Briggs went off on the guy like, ‘No, you’re full of sh*t. I did my research.’ … The guy was supposed to send Shannon a deposit and he never did it past the due date on the contract, so Shannon pulled out — and I ain’t going to lie, my ass was still holding on because he sold me a motherf*cking dream. I was talking to him all the time, I just didn’t feel like he was scamming. Come to find out, Shannon was right.”

The June 8 event was ultimately “canceled” despite appearing to have never been officially scheduled to begin with. QSM founders Hossama Dawood Khan and Suleyman Dawood Khan had reportedly executed the same investment scam tactic on an event scale twice in the past — one with a boxing event and the other with a concert that promised performances from Drake and Travis Scott, neither of which happened.

Jackson hoped to start his boxing career with Briggs before jumping into potential rematches with his fellow MMA legends Evans and Wanderlei Silva. The Silva clash is now also off the table for Jackson, but Jackson trusts his old rival Evans about the legitimacy of what they’re currently putting together.

Beyond Evans, Jackson has a roadmap of what he wants to do next — albeit an ambitious one, to say the least.

“After I knock out Rashad, I’m coming for Jake Paul’s neck,” Jackson said, “because I see him trying to bully Conor McGregor. I did a tweet, I’m waiting for him to tweet me back. He’s talking about wanting to fight Conor McGregor in MMA. … You gotta lay off MMA, Jake Paul. You already pissed me off with what you did to Mike Tyson. I ain’t playing around with Jake Paul.

“I’m 46 … but I will have enough energy to beat the sh*t out of Rashad Evans, and Jake Paul can come and get in the ring in the same night, I’ll f*ck them both up. That’s how I feel.”