Now It’s Official: Jon ‘Bones’ Jones Meets Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at UFC 135 in Denver

It was almost a certainty following UFC 130 that once doctors cleared Jon ‘Bones’ Jones and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson that they would meet as the headline fight for UFC 135 in September.

Now it’s official.

UFC officials on Wednesday announced that verbal agreements are in place for Jones and Jackson to square off on Sept 24 in Denver, Colo with the light heavyweight title on the line.

The only hold up for the bout originally were hand injures that both Jones and Rampage were dealing with, but medical clearances have been given and the fight is full steam ahead for UFC 135.

Jones will look to defend his UFC light heavyweight title for the first time since a dominant performance over former champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in March to win the belt. Following the fight, Jones was contemplating having surgery on a torn ligament in his thumb, but further testing revealed that he could recover well enough just resting the injury and wearing a hard cast for a few weeks.

On Friday, Jones went back to see his doctor to get the clearance needed for the fight, and judging by Wednesday’s announcement that clearance has been given.

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson will take a second stab at UFC light heavyweight gold when he faces Jones in September. Jackson won the belt by defeating Chuck Liddell, and after a successful title defense over Dan Henderson, lost the title in a 5 round fight with Forrest Griffin.

Jackson will look to add another belt to his trophy case when he faces Jones this September.

The bout between Jones and Jackson will headline UFC 135 at Denver’s Pepsi Center, with more bout expected to be announced in the coming weeks.