Former UFC light-heavyweight champions Quinton (Rampage) Jackson and Tito Ortiz will fight one another at a Nov. 2 Bellator MMA event.
The event will take place at The Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center in Long Beach, Calif., and will be the promotion’s first pay-per-view card.
The announcement was made during the broadcast of Bellator 97 on Wednesday night.
Jackson (32-11) signed a multi-year deal, multi-platform deal with Bellator MMA, Spike TV and the pro wrestling promotion TNA Wrestling in June.
Ortiz (16-11-1) announced his retirement from MMA following a UFC 148 loss to Forrest Griffin in July 2012, though he recently hinted that a comeback might be in the cards.
Neither fighter has been on a hot streak of late – each lost their final three fights in the UFC – but they remain two of the most popular and successful mixed martial artists of all-time.
Jackson and Ortiz used to train together at Big Bear Lake in California early in their careers.
It was known that Bellator MMA planned on making a major announcement during Wednesday’s card, though the Jackson-Ortiz matchup came as a surprise to many.
Reports surfaced last week that suggested a boxing match bout between Jackson and boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. was in the works for a pay-per-view event late in 2013.
Jones Jr. was in attendance at Bellator 97 when the Rampage vs. Ortiz announcement was made.
No other matchups have been announced for the Nov. 2 event.
