Tag Archives: Rampage Jackson

Apparently being off for over a year affected Rampage Jackson. The same fighter who dominated Wanderlai Silva and Keith Jardine didn’t seem to know how to deal with Rashad Evans.

He scored those big shots in third round and the fight looked like it was going to be stopped. But the rest of the fight, he just looked gassed. I also don’t remember Rampage ever being taken down as easily as he was being, even factoring the fact that Rashad was a collegiate wrestler for…I think Michigan State.

Obviously there’s going to be a rematch. If Rashad’s next fight his Shogun, it would make sense for Rampage to fight Lyoto Machida, or even Little Nog. I’d have both Jackson and Evans fighting on the same card next. If they both win (probably) or both lose, you automatically have the set up for Rampage vs. Rashad 2.

The most enjoyable thing aboot the 205 division is that there’s no one dominating the division and any fighter can be any other fighter on any other night. Last night was Rashad Evans’s night. He is easily becoming one of my favourite fighters, and last night was the best I’ve ever seen him.

I didn’t see his last fight and ANYTHING was an improvement over his fight with Lyoto Machida, but besides being faster and stronger than I’ve seen him, last night he was also smarter. He was smart enough to be more focused on winning the fight and less focused on knocking Rampage out, and didn’t panic in the third round where Rampage landed a few shots and another ref my have stopped the fight. He covered an earned a unanimous division victory.

Next up for Evans is obviously Shogun Rua, if I were to guess I’d say around September or October. My money is on him getting his belt back.

I was under the impression that the Rashad Evans vs. Rampage Jackson feud started with the stare down at UFC 96, but apparently it dates back to 2004 cornered a fighter – Hector Ramirez – who was fighting Rashad. Ramirez tore the ligaments in his right ankle in the first round of the fight, making him easy pickings for collegiate wrestlers like Evans.

Once he knew the fight was won, Rashad – and this might surprise you – started to showboat. Rampage wasn’t happy or impressed…

“Rashad was still dancing around playing with his nipples back then with them little tight shorts on acting like he was doing something,” he told MMAjunkie.com Tuesday during a conference call promoting UFC 114.

Evans didn’t make things better afterward. He idolized Jackson and approached him after the fight. But he forgot – or ignored – Jackson’s bond with Ramirez.

“He came asking me, ‘Hey, man, I want to come train with you,’” Jackson said. “I thought it was real disrespectful because he fought my teammate in the tournament and he disrespected him by talking about his wrestling and dancing around. [I said], ‘I don’t want to train with you, man. You just disrespected my teammate.’”

So that’s when it first started. Back when Rampage Jackson started with PRIDE and long before there was even an “Ultimate Fighter” for Rashad Evans to audition for, these two were already getting on each others nerves.

In continuing with the superb promotion for UFC 114, Bud Light is producing their own behind the scenes look at Rashad Evans training for his fight against Rampage Jackson, that is a) available exclusively on Bud Light’s Facebook page, and b) hosted by the oh-so-sexy Rachelle Leah.

I only became a fan of the UFC with season three of “The Ultimate Fighter,” so I missed Rashad’s season. The first time I saw him fight was against Sean Solomon, which I decided was going to be boring and went to check my e-mail before going to bed…when I heard Joe Rogan lose his shit. I turned to the TV in time to catch the replay of one of the sickest head kick knockouts I’ve seen. Rashad’s been on of my favourite fighters ever since.

Outside of his skills in the ring (most of the fighters in the UFC are elite in that regard), there are two other reasons why I’m such a fan…
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