– Rashad Evans confirmed this week on the “It’s Time” show on the Sherdog Radio Network that his fight with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been delayed until at least 2010. The fight was originally scheduled for UFC 107 in December.
“It’s definitely off for the 12th,” Evans said. “It’s just disappointing because as a fighter you get your mind wrapped around when you’re going to have to fight. Then you kind of just gear up toward it and put everything in place for that time. You take care of a lot of things you need to take care of so when you’re in camp you don’t have to worry about it. To find out its not going to be happening when you want it to happen is always a little bit of a letdown.”
Evans said that he thought the fight was still on despite reports that Jackson had signed on to play B.A. Baracus in The A-Team movie because Dana White had told him he was working on resolving the issue.
“I heard a little bit about it at the last UFC, 102, and (UFC president) Dana (White) said he was working to resolve the issue, and he was pretty confident that he was going to have some kind of resolution by the end of the week,” Evans said. “But then things must have took a turn for the worse and it wasn’t going to be resolved. The end result was him definitely pulling out.”
Evans also said that if he was in the same situation as Jackson, he would have stuck with his obligations.
“I would stick with my obligations to do the fight (if I was in the same situation),” Evans said. “I know that he has an amazing opportunity to do this acting role, but then at the same time, at the end of the day he’s still going to be just a fighter. He’s not going to be an actor.”
Evans added that his next fight will still probably be with Jackson, he just isn’t sure when.
“I’m pretty positive that it’s going to be my next fight,” Evans said. “They haven’t nailed down any dates, but they did say it was going to be after the New Year. I think they were waiting to speak with Quinton’s guys and find out exactly when exactly he feels he should be ready. They just want to get it done and over with, and they’re just trying to work with him and see what they can do.”
