Rampage's court date postponed

The pre-trial hearing scheduled for Thursday for former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has been reset to Oct. 24. Jackson and his attorney, Carol Lavacot, were present in court, but the Orange County chief prosecutor, Keith Bogardus, was held up in a preliminary hearing for another case and unable to attend, necessitating the postponement.

The pre-trial hearing is where parties are brought together to lay out future court dates for the proceedings. It is also an opportunity for the defense to change its plea.

A preliminary examination, where the prosecution presents its evidence in the case to the court, had been scheduled for Nov. 30. That date will also be rescheduled -- although that date has not yet been determined -- as Jackson will be in England on that date preparing for his Dec. 27 bout with Wanderlei Silva.

The court proceedings stem from Jackson's arrest on July 15 -- just one week removed from losing his title to Forrest Griffin -- following a dramatic car chase ending in Costa Mesa, Calif. He was allegedly involved in several collisions with other vehicles and even driving the wrong direction on Newport Boulevard in Newport Beach after having crossed over a median in attempts to evade police.

The 30-year-old Jackson has been charged with one felony count of evading while driving recklessly, one felony count of evading a peace officer and driving against traffic, three misdemeanor counts of hit and run with property damage, and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving.

Appearing before the court on Aug. 28, Jackson entered a plea of not guilty.