Ever since Quinton “Rampage” Jackson signed on with Bellator Fighting Championship, there has been plenty of speculation as to what the promotion planned to do with the former PRIDE and UFC champion.
Among the options were putting him in the ring with Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match, making him compete in the next light heavyweight tournament, but on the Bellator 97 telecast on Spike TV, all the speculation was thrown out the window and it was revealed that Jackson would be squaring off with former UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz.
The fight will be contested inside the Bellator cage on Nov. 2 in what will be the first ever Bellator event on pay per view. It will be an event that will have plenty of suspense and intrigue and will be the starting point for the Bellator rise in the MMA game or the beginning of the end.
Jackson was last seen competing in an MMA contest in January of this year losing to rising light heavyweight star, Glover Teixeira. It was the third straight loss in the career of Jackson and a fight that ended the oftentimes tumultuous relationship between Jackson, UFC President Dana White and the UFC.
Ortiz was once in the same position as Jackson, but righted his wrongs and shocked the world in July 2011 when he submitted Ryan Bader. Then, fighting for a chance to compete for the UFC light heavyweight title, he was defeated by Rashad Evans before dropping the final two fights of his UFC career to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Forrest Griffin.
When these two men step inside the cage at the first Bellator ppv, it won’t be a five-star war that these two men could have given fans five years ago, but it will be a fight that could give the promotion hope to keep up with the UFC.
