Matt Hamill steps in to face "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 130.

It appears that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will now face Matt “The Hammer” Hamill in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 130 scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. on May 28.

Jackson was originally lined up to face Thiago Silva, but due to an ongoing investigation by the Nevada State Athletic Commission into a positive drug test Silva incurred at UFC 125, he has been pulled from the bout.

British MMA site MMA Bay first reported Hamill as a potential replacement, but also reported that Jackson considered rejecting the bout due to Hamill not being as highly ranked as Silva.

MMAJunkie has since reported that “verbal agreements are in place and bout agreements are expected to be finalized shortly.”

Hamill (10-2), who began his pro MMA career in 2005, has fought every one of his bouts inside the UFC Octagon except for one, his first bout.

Hamill is riding a five-fight win streak and is coming off a unanimous decision over his former TUF coach Tito Ortiz at UFC 121 in October of last year.

He also holds the distinction of being the only person to ever defeat Jon “Bones” Jones, albeit due to Jones being disqualified for using illegal elbow strikes that incapacitated Hamill.

Jackson (31-8) is coming off a split decision win over fellow former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 123 this past November.

UFC 130 will be headlined with a lightweight title rematch between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. It will be their third fight against one another and a “do over” from their Jan. 1 bout that ended in a draw.

One thought on “Thiago Silva out, Matt Hamill steps in to face “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 130”
  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jack Bratcher, KHARY PENEBAKER. KHARY PENEBAKER said: RT @PROMMA: Thiago Silva out, Matt Hamill steps in to face “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 130 http://t.co/1dyOdn0 #mma #ufc #sports #news #ufc130 […]

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