Wanderlei Silva drops news of ‘Rampage’ rematch

PRIDE legend Wanderlei Silva says he’s fighting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson under the Bellator banner on September 29. Silva shared this exciting news in a video on his official Facebook page.

”Like people say, it’s very hard for a good professional to retire,” Silva said (via MMA Fighting). “I just got a call from Bellator inviting to be part of the Sept. 29 [card] against Quinton Jackson in the main event in California. It’s our fourth bout, I won two of the first three, so it’s 2-1 for me.”

Though the promotion has yet to announce this booking at the time of this writing, both Silva and Rampage are expected to attend a press conference hosted by Bellator and parent company Viacom next Tuesday. It’s hard to imagine the bout won’t be officially announced at this event.

Wanderlei Silva and Rampage Jackson have fought three times previously — twice in the PRIDE ring, and once inside the UFC’s Octagon.

Silva won the pair’s first two encounters, which occurred in 2003 and 2004, with thunderous, knee-induced knockouts. Rampage won their third collision, which went down at UFC 92 in 2008, with a violent first-round knockout of his own.

Since their last meeting, both fighters have produced mixed results. Silva has gone 3-4, losing to Rich Franklin (twice), Chris Leben and Chael Sonnen, and defeating Michael Bisping, Cung Le and Brian Stann.

Rampage, meanwhile, has gone 8-6, defeating Keith Jardine, Lyoto Machida, Matt Hamill, Joey Beltran, Christian M’Pumbu, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Fabio Maldonado, and Satoshi Ishii, and coming up short against Rashad Evans, Jon Jones, Ryan Bader, Glover Teixeira, King Mo, and Chael Sonnen.

No other bouts have been announced for this September 29 card, which we can probably expect to be headlined by this Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson rematch.

Who do you think comes out on top in the pair’s fourth fight?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/20/2018.