Changes Made To UFC 107 Card

by Robert Sargent

Following his inclusion as B.A. Baracus in the upcoming movie remake of "A-Team," Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will no longer compete against fellow TUF 10 coach "Sugar" Rashad Evans in front of his hometown Memphis fans at UFC 107 on December 12th.

In place of the original main event, the UFC has moved the UFC Lightweight Championship bout between "The Prodigy" BJ Penn and Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez to UFC 107.

Needless to say, UFC President Dana White is not pleased with these developments, as Jackson's lack of participation at UFC 107 effectively ruins all promotional efforts that the upcoming tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter will create.

Jackson and Evans served as the coaches for TUF 10 and were set to square off in front of Jackson's hometown Memphis fans to determine the next challenger for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Due to Jackson's part in the movie, the fight will be postponed for at least two or three months.


The UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Penn and Sanchez was originally set to headline UFC 105 in Manchester, England on November 14th. However, with Jackson unable to compete against Evans, the UFC needed a quality main event to fill the void. As UFC 105 will air for free on SpikeTV and UFC 107 is a pay-per-view event, the latter obviously became the priority.

However, this leaves UFC 105 without a main event, though that could change with the recent announcement that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, twin brother of former UFC Interim and PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, will finally make his long-awaited UFC debut at the event. An opponent has yet to be determined, but it is possible that Rogerio's fight could headline the show.


In other bouts at UFC 107, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir will take on Cheick Kongo, while Brazilian welterweights will do battle when former title challenger Thiago "Pitbull" Alves faces Paulo Thiago.