That's what the champion told Tatame TV:

"The UFC thought in other alternatives, but it didn't work out. For some reason he (Jackson) didn't accepted it. I'll have to change my training because he's a lot different from Rashad, much taller, and it'll be a great challenge. He's been surprising everybody in the UFC, defeated everybody with easy, and it'll be a tough fight for me."

And the plot thickens. Once Rashad Evans was forced to drop out of his main event title fight against Mauricio Rua at UFC 128 on March 19, the UFC had to do some scrambling. According to company head honcho Dana White, that included asking Jon Jones if he wanted to take his teammate's spot right after defeating Ryan Bader at UFC 126 this past Saturday night (Feb. 5). "Bones" quickly accepted and now, at the ripe old age of 23, will fight for his first championship. If it seemed like a somewhat odd move and you were of the mind they were rushing the young up-and-comer into the title picture, well, it looks like you weren't the only one. If "Shogun" is to be believed, Jones wasn't the first choice to fight him for his title. That honor was to go to Quinton Jackson, who is currently scheduled to throw hands against Thiago Silva at UFC 130 on May 28. Apparently, "Rampage" said no thanks, electing not to at least attempt to avenge his embarrassing first round knockout loss to the champ back in 2005 while the two were in Pride. Whew. Got all that? Considering is proclivity for avenging his two knockout losses to Wanderlei Silva, is this news surprising to anyone?