The Dec. 12 UFC 107 main event between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans has been scrapped from the card, according to UK Web site MMABay.com, which has close ties to Jackson's Wolfslair team.
The site reported that Jackson will be unable to participate because of a film commitment he recently made to "The A-Team." Several news sites reported conflicting information on the casting, but UFC President Dana White last week confirmed to FanHouse that Rampage had indeed gotten the role.
The UFC does not officially announce matches until contracts and bout agreements are signed, but Evans vs. Jackson was widely expected and is the centerpiece feud of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, which begins airing on Sept. 16 and runs through Dec. 2.
In addition, the event was scheduled to take place in Jackson's hometown of Memphis, Tenn.The feud between the two began shortly after UFC 96, when Evans was invited into the cage following Jackson's unanimous decision win over Evans' teammate, Keith Jardine.
During a May conference call to announce their participation on TUF, Jackson told reporters he'd chosen to fight Evans ahead of a possible title bout with Lyoto Machida.
"They told me I could fight whoever and I had my mind set I would fight Evans," he said then.
Evans and his manager did not return messages seeking comment and White was on an international business trip and unreachable.
UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn announced yesterday on his website that his next title defense against Diego Sanchez would come at UFC 107, and it appears that bout is likely to be moved into the main-event position.
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