Quinton "Rampage" Jackson hasn't been seen in the vicinty of a UFC octagon in over six months. His last UFC bout was nearly a year ago, and since his feud with UFC president Dana White went public last fall, he's been seen mostly in stills from his upcoming "A-Team" movie, on TMZ and other Hollywood shows.
But the former UFC light-heavyweight champion will at least temporarily be back in the UFC fold when the organization makes its maiden voyage to Australia for UFC 110 on Feb. 20.
No, he won't be fighting. He'll be there cornering his Wolfslair teammate Michael Bisping in his co-main event bout against Wanderlei Silva.
"Rampage is with me right now in Australia," Bisping said during a Wednesday conference call for the event. "He's been with my training camp the last few weeks now."
Bisping couldn't have asked for a fighter with more insight into his opponent than Jackson, who's fought Silva three times, as recently as Dec. 2008. In that last encounter at UFC 92, Jackson KO'd his longtime rival.
The Brit, who rebounded from a UFC 100 loss to Dan Henderson to win his return against Denis Kang last November, says he's learned plenty from Rampage about his next foe.
"Having Rampage in the camp for the last few weeks gives me great insight into the fight," he said. "Obviously he's got a long history with Wanderlei, so he brings some good strategy to the table and told me what to expect. Just having someone like Rampage with his vast experience of the fight game around in camp, is a good thing psychologically. It's also good to break up the boredom. When the training gets to be a bit hard, he's also good for a laugh as well. But as I said, someone with his experience and knowing Wanderlei as well as he does, it's been invaluable having him and helping me with strategy."
Jackson is expected to make his in-ring return at UFC 114 on May 29, facing Rashad Evans. In a nice bit of synergy for Jackson, his "A-Team" movie in which he stars as B.A. Baracus is scheduled to open just two weeks later.