At 40 years old now, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson faces a must-win situation this weekend at Bellator 206.
Jackson will tangle with long-time rival Wanderlei Silva in the co-main event from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The card airs on both Paramount Network and DAZN, and includes Gegard Mousasi defending his middleweight title vs. current welterweight champion Rory MacDonald and the start of the welterweight grand prix.
For Jackson, coming off back-to-back decision losses to Chael Sonnen and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, a third straight defeat would be tough to swallow.
The last time Rampage picked up a victory was in 2016 when he earned a split decision vs. Satoshi Ishii. The last time he scored a finish? That came in 2014 when he knocked out Christian M’Pumbu in the first round.
There was a time when Jackson was considered one of the top fighters in the world. He unified the UFC and Pride titles in 2007 with a decision win in England over Dan Henderson. Prior to that, victories over Chuck Liddell, Marvin Eastman and Kevin Randleman made him a feared man.
This will be the fourth time that Jackson and “The Axe Murderer” have met, with the most recent coming in 2008 at UFC 92 and resulting in a first round KO finish for Jackson. Silva holds wins in the first two meetings, but like his rival, he is now 42 and hasn’t earned an official win since 2013.
While Bellator continues to push the likes of Mousasi, MacDonald, Douglas Lima, Andrey Koreshkov and Aaron Pico, they know that fans around the world will tune in to see Jackson vs. Silva 4.
And if they want to continue using one of them, somebody has to win Saturday night.
Bellator 206 Fight Card
MAIN CARD (Paramount Network/10 p.m. ET)
Bellator Middleweight Championship
Gegard Mousasi (c) vs. Rory MacDonald
Heavyweight: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix
Douglas Lima vs. Andrey Koreshkov
Featherweight: Aaron Pico vs. Leandro Higo
PRELIMINARY CARD (ParamountNetwork.com)
Featherweight: Ignacio Ortiz vs. Jacob Ycaro
Middleweight: Abraham Vaesau vs. DeMarco Villalona
Female Featherweight: Arlene Blencowe vs. Amber Leibrock
Catchweight: Adam Piccolotti vs. James Terry
Featherweight: Gaston Bolanos vs. Ysidro Gutierrez
Featherweight: Justin Smitley vs. Jeremiah Labiano
Bantamweight: Joe Neal vs. Josh San Diego
Light Heavyweight: Chuck Campbell vs. Joseph Ramirez
Lightweight: Anthony Figueroa vs. Samuel Romero
Bantamweight: Isaiah Batin-Gonzalez vs. Khai Wu
Featherweight: Ricky Abdelaziz vs. Laird Anderson
Lightweight: Don Mohammed vs. Salvador Becerra
Bantamweight: Cass Bell vs. Ty Costa