UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 24, 2011 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship had its first ever event in Denver nearly 20 years prior to UFC 135, but the promotion has not operated a pay-per-view event in the Mile High City since The Ultimate Ultimate in 1995. Zuffa, the UFC’s parent company, was not the owner back then. UFC president Dana White, in an interview with MMAWeekly.com, says that the company has long been on a course to return to Denver, but they wanted to do it the right way. “We knew that we wanted to bring a big exciting card back to Denver, and we finally got it done.”

Jon Jones was expected to make his first title defense on August 6, 2011 at UFC 133 against Rashad Evans, but Jones was sidelined with a hand injury. It was initially announced that the hand injury would require surgery, but Jones opted for rest and rehabilitation without surgery after further consultations with doctors. Jones' injury was originally thought to keep him out of action until late 2011, but instead, he made his first title defense against Quinton Jackson at this event.

Dana White (born July 28, 1969) is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.

Born in Manchester, Connecticut on July 28, 1969, White grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ware, Massachusetts and Levant, Maine. White is a passionate Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Boston and Maine. He attended the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city youth.

White has a background as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, White established Dana White Enterprises in Las Vegas. He conducted aerobics classes at three gyms in the Las Vegas area and began managing MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

While working as a manager, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta, an executive at Station Casinos, and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC, with White installed as its president. White currently owns about 9% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC.

Larry Merchant (born February 11, 1931) is an American former sportswriter, a longtime commentator for HBO Sports presentations of HBO World Championship Boxing, Boxing After Dark and HBO pay-per-view telecasts, and is considered "the greatest television boxing analyst of all time" by ESPN Boxing analyst Dan Rafael.

Merchant was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1978, Merchant joined HBO Sports as an analyst. Prior to joining HBO Sports, Merchant was a well-regarded sports columnist with The Philadelphia Daily News and a general reporter for The New York Post.

The current HBO Boxing team consists of Merchant, Jim Lampley, and Emanuel Steward for championship and pay-per-view fights. Previous lineups have included Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman and Roy Jones Jr., with the latter two having clashed words with Merchant. Merchant has also clashed with the unofficial judge Harold Lederman.

Among the fighters who have clashed with Merchant include Mike Tyson, Oscar de la Hoya and, more recently, Floyd Mayweather Jr. The De La Hoya incident came during his fight with Pernell Whitaker. When De la Hoya entered the ring to Mariachi music, Merchant stated that while he loved Mariachi music, he felt that it "stunk" in this particular situation. Merchant would later apologize on the air after De La Hoya tried to have him removed from HBO.