The birth of a rivalry can come from many places. Interstate rivalries are commonplace in college and pro sports, sometimes it’s a curse handed down from a trade that spurned on the Yankees and Red Sox. Sometimes it’s as simple as the right place and the right time, and that’s exactly what brought Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans to the boiling point of UFC 114.
The scene was set March 7, 2009.
Quinton Jackson defeated Keith Jardine and was in line to face then champion Rashad Evans for his 205-pound divisional title. The UFC brought Evans into the cage to face off with Jackson as the next logical fight, but the heat got turned up when the former Michigan State wrestler got right in the face of Jackson, after he had defeated his teammate Jardine just moments prior.
While some rivalries may be pushed into the spotlight, UFC president Dana White says nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to these two.
“Nothing was manufactured,” he said.
The culmination of the build-up will come on Saturday night, but it all started over a year ago in Columbus, Ohio, and it’s been burning ever since.
“You’ve seen the story a million times,” White said. “You bring the other guy in the Octagon and this is who you’re going to fight next. We did it with Brock (Lesnar) and Shane (Carwin) and they had a little exchange, theirs is more funny and respectful.
“Well Rashad got right up in (Jackson’s) face cause he just beat Keith Jardine and it was all downhill from there. (Rampage) didn’t like that, and nothing was manufactured about it.”
White says that bringing fighters in to “challenge” their next opponent a common practice, but there was no coaching ever given to either one of these guys, and what Jackson and Evans say about each other is exactly how they feel.
“We told them to go in there, this is going to be the next fight, Rogan will interview them both, and they just went nose to nose and this is where we are,” White commented.
The birth of the rivalry holds roots to last year, but in 2010 it’s finally time to settle the score as Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson square off at UFC 114 in Las Vegas.
