— UFC President Dana White confirmed at the UFC 103 press conference that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will not be available for a fight until March, at the earliest.
“[Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s work on “The A-Team”] was supposed to be done right around December,” said White. “Now [Rampage] is saying that they have makeup dates and stuff like that, so he couldn’t even fight in February.”
UFC had been hoping to feature Rampage vs. Rashad Evans as a main-event bout in December. The two, viewed as elite when it comes to trash-talking and fight-hyping, are currently coaches on the ratings-record-breaking “The Ultimate Fighter 10” and are thus positioned to draw one of UFC’s biggest buyrates of all time.
In addition to finding the next potential UFC star, “The Ultimate Fighter” typically serves as a platform for promoting a fight between the two rival coaches. As buzz does not last forever, UFC likes to get the two coaches in the Octagon as soon as possible following the culmination of the season. That cannot happen here. Due to Jackson’s role in “The A-Team,” the two cannot fight when the season ends later this fall and are now looking at a bout in March or April.
— Dana White touted Vitor Belfort, who defeated Rich Franklin at UFC 103, as a top contender for Anderson Silva’s Middleweight Championship. Nothing was confirmed, but White did imply Belfort would be in line for the shot before Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson.
— Though nothing definitive was discussed, talk following Mirko Cro Cop’s loss to Junior dos Santos has focused on his dwindling future in mixed martial arts.
“I’m not saying that I’ve ever been at the level of a Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ or any of these guys, but I used to fight,” said White to MMAJunkie. “You get to a certain age where you remember what you used to be able to do, and you can see all the openings. You just can’t pull the trigger. I think that’s where he’s at.”
White, meanwhile, put over dos Santos as “no joke” and “in the mix.”
crocock is washed up you can see the fear in his eyes.He always had been a dirty fighter but this time it didnt work.