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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is stuck on the sidelines while he continues to await a resolution to his court battle with Bellator MMA, but he's still thinking about future opposition.
In a post last week to Instagram last week, Jackson said he wants a rematch with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, and says his loss to Rua in their first meeting still haunts him.
"A lot of people asking who I wanna fight next," he wrote. "I think Shogun owes me a rematch. I should have pulled out of our [first] fight but my pride wouldn't let me. I will never fight injured again, this loss still haunts me."
Shogun scored a TKO win over Jackson with a series of soccer kicks in the opening round of the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, a tournament Shogun would go on to win before making his UFC debut. The two have never crossed paths since entering the UFC.
While Jackson remains sidelined, Shogun faces a different rematch from that 2005 Pride tournament on August 1, as he meets the man he beat in the quarterfinals that year, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Penick's Analysis: If Shogun beats Nogueira, and Jackson manages to clear himself of Bellator for good, this would be a solid enough fight for both of them later in the year. They're both former UFC Champions, and though they've lost some luster in recent years, it's an easy sell for the UFC if they choose to go with that fight.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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