There’s been a piping hot feud between the former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) and former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (38-14, 20 KOs). They both have been calling each other out on social media for a couple of years now and even had a brief yet fierce confrontation during a presser.
The 260-pound WBO legend, Shannon Briggs, is coming out of retirement to put on his boxing gloves once again against the UFC legend ‘Rampage’ Jackson. These two former MMA and boxing icons are finally set to settle the scores in Qatar, following years of off-the-ring spat.
Shannon Briggs vs. Rampage Jackson on June 1 in Qatar
It all started back in 2021, when Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs and Quinton Jackson started exchanging heated messages on social media. This feud reached a whole new level of explosiveness, during an inaugural event for the Triad Combat PPV.
The atmosphere really got over-heated when the Team Captains, Briggs and ‘Rampage’ took the stage. Everything got aggravated between the two legends since that brief, yet intense face off, and the anticipation for their match has been growing ever since.
This fight, between the power-punching duos, that has been heating up for the past couple of year, is officially taking place this summer in Qatar. They both stormed to social media to announce their official fight. Shannon Briggs, who retired from boxing in 2016, announced his comeback against the former UFC superstar in an Instagram Live video.
Briggs expressed his excitement for his return, saying, “It’s on. It’s on. Let’s go champ. It’d on, that’s right. June 1st, hey listen, I’m telling y’all. He was talking crazy too: he was talking reckless. He was talking crazy, let’s see if he can win, let’s go champ.”
‘Rampage’ Jackson, who isn’t much actively present in too many MMA podcasts, also took to Twitter to declare his boxing debut as early as he got his hands on the contract. The former UFC superstar shared his excitement as well in the Twitter video.
“Shannon, you’re gonna regret even calling me out all those years ago, and you’ve been posting just ungodly videos of me, tagging in ungodly videos, and I just endured it.” Jackson also added, “I got the contract. Thank God. I’m gonna shut your mouth once and for all.”
Shannon Briggs eyes first-round knockout vs. ex-UFC champion
In the Instagram Live, Shannon Briggs looked to be super confident about going head-to-head with Jackson. He seemed pretty sure of himself for a first-round knockout. “Yeah man, it’s on. Who wants me to knock him out in the first round? Yoo, he outta here,” he said.
His fans also wished Jackson to be knocked out cold in the first round. Briggs, in turn, wanted to know how he should take out ‘Rampage.’ He continued by asking, “Do I punish him? Severely, viciously. I mean body shots. I’m going 18 body shots a round. Or do I do just one, right here (points to the chin).”
Briggs retired from boxing back in 2016, with a first-round knockout win against Emilio Ezequiel Zarate (21-22-3, 12 KOs). Only time will tell whether Briggs can repeat his in-ring sauces against Rampage Jackson and send him back to the locker room crying, like Jackson did back in UFC 100 after his partner Michael Bisping’s defeat. Or will Jackson shut Briggs for good?
Whatever the result may be, this is surely going to be a tough and an exciting fight!
