Rampage's Jackson next opponent, UFC 135 gate info

Who does Rampage want next?

During a post-fight interview at UFC 135 conducted by Joe Rogan, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson called out old foe Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. 

Jackson challenged Rua to a fight for February's UFC card in Japan. The last time Jackson and Rua faced off was back in 2005 in PRIDE. Rua dominated the fight with soccer kicks to put Jackson away in the first round. 

To this day, Jackson still wants to avenge that loss, stating in the past that he took the fight onshort notice and how it was the one loss that always bothered him. Rua takes on fellow MMA legend Dan Henderson at UFC 139 in November. UFC president Dana White mentioned during UFC 135 media events that the winner of Rua-Hendo could get the next title shot after Rashad Evans. We'll see what happens...

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--UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage drew a reported 16,344 at Denver, Colorado's Pepsi Center for a $2 million live gate.

--According to Wrestling Observer Radio hosted by Dave Meltzer, there are reports that UFC 135 did decent but not great on PPV, although any buy rate numbers that come out the next couple of weeks are only preliminary. There were also reports of viewers having PPV problems, with the feed freezing. To the UFC's credit, this has never happened before, but it does create some problems for any first-time buyers. My UFC.TV feed I purchased froze for a good 20 minutes before it went back up. Luckily, it was during the non-eventful Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton fight. 

The "above average but not great" potential buy rate could be a sign that Bones Jones still has a lot of time to develop as a draw. Then again, Jackson's drawing power has waned quite a bit, considering he hasn't finished a fighter since 2008 and wasn't exactly involved in "Fight of the Night" candidates the last three bouts (Evans, Machida, Hamill). In theory, Jones vs. Evans should do great on PPV, given the natural conflict and Evans' trash talk. That fight won't take place anytime soon though.

Evans' hand was wrapped up when interviewed by Rogan last night. Backstage UFC cameras showed Jones getting his hand and foot wrapped up too. They'll need some time to recover, so don't expect the 205lb super fight to take place until next year, 

--UFC president Dana White told MMAJunkie.com that he believes UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes will retire, even if he doesnt use the "R" word. That would be a good idea. It should be noted Hughes was cornered by former (and I guess now current) teammates Pat Miletich and Robbie Lawler for the first time in years. Hughes said he had a great camp and still fell apart at the end against Josh Koscheck, so retirement is probably his best option. If that's the case, thank you for the memories, Mr. Hughes. 

Update: Meltzer is reporting the buy rate could be in the 400,000-500,000. That's not bad at all for a young champion like Jones, but the UFC certainly hopes he grows as a draw.