The 24 year old Jones won the title by crushing Mauricio Rua at UFC 128 in March of this year. He had been expected to make his initial title defense against former teammate Rashad Evans at UFC 133 in Philadelphia. However due to an injury to his hand that was initially thought to require surgery, Jones backed out of that fight. Evans will face Phil Davis instead.
Jones told MMA Junkie the news about the Jackson fight:
"I'll be fighting Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson next." Jones told MMAjunkie on Thursday. "I'm not allowed to discuss the date because I didn't sign a contract, but yeah, it will be very soon."
Rampage came out of his UFC 130 bout with Matt Hamill nursing a broken left hand and could be medically suspended until November. If he gets clearance from an orthopedic doctor, he could be cleared to fight sooner.
As always news of a fight based on a "verbal agreement" from only one fighter's camp should be taken with a grain of salt. It's entirely possible that Jones has agreed to the bout but Jackson has not.