Jackson vs Evans at UFC 98; Mir vs Lesnar at UFC 100

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson defeated Keith Jardine via unanimous decision earlier tonight in the main event of UFC 96, earning himself another shot at the UFC light heavyweight title in the process.

The UFC announced during the broadcast tonight that Rashad Evans would be defending his belt against either Lyoto Machida or Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 98. If Jackson beat Jardine, then he would get the shot. If Jackson lost to Jardine, then Machida would get the title shot.

The original main event of UFC 98 was supposed to be Lesnar vs Mir II in a heavyweight title unification match, but Mir needed to push the fight back due to some health issues.

Instead, Lesnar / Mir II will take place at UFC 100 on July 11th.

The following matches are now set for UFC 100:

Lesnar vs Mir to unify the heavyweight titles
St. Pierre vs Alves for the Welterweight title
Henderson vs Bisping

UFC 98 will now feature Evans vs "Rampage" in the main event, as well as Hughes vs Serra and Sherk vs Edgar.

Jackson will have two and a half months to get ready for Rashad Evans. By the time UFC 98 rolls around, this will have been Jackson's third fight in less than five months - it will be interesting to see if that is a factor in the outcome of the fight.

UFC 100 will now feature two of the biggest names in mixed martial arts, as both Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre will be appearing on the card. Say what you want about Brock Lesnar, but he is certainly one of the biggest draws in the sport, and this fight should help the buyrate tremendously.

The winner of Evans / Jackson will almost certainly defend the light heavyweight title against Lyoto Machida in the fall of 2009.

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