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While it was a rather bleak looking card at first glance, UFC 96 surely delivered on Saturday night and gave us many answers. If you enjoy stand-up wars, you got what you wanted on Saturday night and with only a handful of submission attempts all night, it isn’t surprising to see that no one was awarded with a ‘Submission of the Night’ bonus.

If my math is correct, half of the fighters showcased on Saturday night are now coming off wins and half are coming off losses. What does that mean for some of them moving forward?

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson

Quinton Jackson fought to a hard-earned decision on Saturday night and has been offered a May 23rd bout with Rashad Evans with a chance to regain his light heavyweight title. If he accepts, Jackson may decide to hold his training camp in Big Bear instead of traveling back to England. I believe that this is a great opportunity for Jackson and if he is healthy, he should enter training camp and push through. However, if his mind and heart aren’t in it, there is no reason to rush this fight. Jackson would be able to take off some time and fight the winner of Machida and Evans down the line without needing to fight again. This might be the best idea after seeing how it affected him when he learned he was being asked to fight in May, and not in July as previously thought.

Steve Cofield and Ariel Helwani interview Rampage following his UFC 96 victory over Keith Jardine. Good interview, Ariel tries to stir the pot, and Rampage calls him a princess. Funny stuff.

The OSAC has released the fighter payouts for UFC 96 “Jackson vs Jardine.” Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional “locker room” bonuses, pay-per-view revenue sharing, or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

Notes

• Hamill, Jackson and Jardine took home $60k “Fight of the…” bonuses
• Mark Munoz is fine, Dana was worried about Pete Sell, went to the hospital for MRI, no word on his status yet
• Dana says only a couple refs do a good job in the business. Says Yves usually does good, but was horrible during the Brown-Sell fight. Says Herb Dean and Mario Yamasaki are good
• Rampage didn’t know the Evans fight was being moved up to May 23 until 15 mins before the press conference, which explains why he appeared eager to fight Rashad immediately following his victory, and reluctant now
• Evans-Jackson UFC 98 not a done deal unless Rampage is 100%. If he isn’t in time, Lyoto Machida will get the shot
• Mir-Lesnar 2 will “probably” happen at UFC 100
• Dana was going to change Matt Hamill’s entrance song, “Hang On Sloopy,” until he found out it was a big deal in Ohio
• Mir’s knee is spoiling Rampage’s vacation plans with one of his Asian groupies
• Someone stole a jacket in Rampage’s camp out of the locker room, but they just wanted the phone back

HT: Cagewriter

Part two and three after the jump.

UFC 96 “Jackson vs Jardine” took place earlier today at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

In the night’s main event, Rampage Jackson took on Keith Jardine for a chance to fight Rashad Evans for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship this summer.

Mark Munoz made his UFC debut against Matt Hamill following a successful stint in the WEC.

Shane Carwin took a considerable step up in competition facing veteran Gabriel Gonzaga.

Matt Brown and Pete Sell faced off in a welterweight bout.

Gray Maynard looked for another UFC victory against a very game Jim Miller.

Results and wrap-up after the jump.

We’re only hours away from UFC 96. The event airs live from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio at 10PM ET/7PM PT on pay-per-view. All the UFC 96 videos to hit YouTube are in the video player above, and if you’re looking to put down some cash on the fight, BetUS has the latest odds below. Good luck and enjoy the fights!