Many rumors were circulating in the past week or two that Rampage Jackson would be meeting up in the octagon with Rashad Evans for the second time at UFC 130 after Evans’ bout with Shogun Rua was canceled due to an injury and Thiago Silva was forced out his match up with Rampage which left Rampage with no competitor.
Though both fighters appeared to want the bout but according to Evans, it was the UFC who made the final decision to have Matt Hamill fill in for Silva at UFC 130 against Jackson:
“I wanted it. I was gonna do it for May. When I heard Thiago (Silva) was out I was like ‘Alright, I’ll fight Rampage again,’ but then they put Matt Hamill in there. They didn’t want to put that fight together for whatever reason. I would have found a way. I woulda gave it a go. I’ve been doing some pretty aggressive treatment on my knee and I was thinkin’ I was gonna be ready.”
