We ended Part 1 with this historic slam:
After that slam, a rematch with Wanderlei Silva was a foregone conclusion. 4 months later, he got his rematch. And for the first 10 minutes of their fight, he more than held his own. Some feel that he was winning. But then, in the 2nd round, Wanderlei clutched him in the same muay thai plum that he had used to finish him in their first encounter. And just like the last time, he started ramming his knee into Rampage's exposed face. Over. And over. And over. Until, finally, Wanderlei moved aside and allowed Jackson's lifeless body to fall through the ropes. To this day, it is one of the most brutal knockouts I have ever seen.
Here it is:
Gruesome, isn't it?
How does a man come back from that? That was no ordinary loss. That was the kind of loss that could ruin a man. His health. His confidence. His value as a world class fighter. After the fight, Rampage claimed that he had been so confident that he would win. The loss crushed him.
His next fight was a split decision win over Murilo "Ninja" Rua. Many felt he was gifted the victory. If it was a gift, Pride sure didn't give him a gift in his next fight. Instead, he was given Ninja's younger brother, "Shogun." Shogun beat him mercilessly. Backed him against the ropes and soccer kicked him until the fight was stopped. He broke several of Rampage's ribs in the process.
Twice in 3 fights, Rampage had been brutally finished. He didn't look like the same guy who had once struck terror in the hearts of 205 pound fighters everywhere.
The Pride brass perhaps felt sorry for him, because they matched him softly for his next 2 fights, giving him relatively easy matches against Hirotaka Yokoi and Dong Sik Yoon. He finished Yokoi in the first round but went the distance against Yoon.
Afterwards, he and the Pride organization brass couldn't agree on how much he should be paid for future fights. So they went separate ways. A fledgling mma promotion called the World Fighting Alliance (WFA) scooped him up, and paid him big money to face former UFC standout, Matt Lindland. Rampage beat the Olympic wrestler, and even showed a glimpse of his old self when he slammed Lindland several times.
So Rampage had won 3 straight fights and was getting paid handsomely by the WFA. Life was good. And then it got better. The UFC bought the WFA. And they did it to get Rampage.
You see, in the years since Rampage had beaten Chuck Liddell, Liddell had made a comeback of his own. In fact, he hadn't lost a fight since. Chuck had knocked out Randy Couture twice, Tito Ortiz twice, and also finished Jeremy Horn, Vernon White and Renato "Babalu" Sobral. He looked unbeatable. And he wanted revenge.
So after just one fight in the UFC, Rampage was fighting for the Light Heavyweight championship of the world, against a man he had already beaten.
Though he had defeated Chuck in the past, many observers felt that things would turn out differently this time. Remember, Chuck had looked unstoppable since their first fight, while Rampage had been finished three times since then.
But Rampage was ready. In the first round, Chuck came out aggressively. He threw a left hook to Jackson's body, but made a fatal mistake. He left his hand low after the punch instead of rechambering it to help defend against a counter punch. Rampage, having spent a great deal of time honing his boxing skills, reacted on instinct, and fired as good a right hook counter as you're likely to ever see in mma. It hit Chuck square on the chin and dropped him. Rampage followed him to the canvas, throwing punches as he went, and moments later the fight was stopped.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was on top of the world--champion of the biggest, most important mixed martial arts organization on the planet.
What was next for Rampage? None other than Dan Henderson, another legend, and the only man to hold both the Pride 205 pound title and 185 pound title at the same time! That's right. When Zuffa purchased Pride, Dan Henderson held both titles. In fact, in his last fight, Dan Henderson had knocked out Rampage's greatest enemy, Wanderlei Silva.
So when they faced each other on September 8th, 2007, they unified the Pride and UFC titles. So, who walked away with the belts? Rampage did. It was a grueling affair, and it went all five rounds. Both men did their best to knock the other man's head off, but neither man could finish the other. After 25 minutes of combat, the judges gave the decision to Rampage. Henderson thought he had done enough to win, but most viewers agreed that Rampage had earned the victory.
After the super fight with Henderson, the UFC matched Rampage against Forrest Griffin, winner of the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter (and perhaps the most important single fight in the history of modern mixed martial arts--the TUF finale against Stephan Bonnar, which is often credited for the UFC's rise to prominence). Like Henderson, Griffin had defeated one of Rampage's conquerors. But it wasn't Wanderlei Silva. No, Griffin had welcomed Mauricio "Shogun" Rua to the UFC. Shogun's arrival was one of the most hyped in the sport. After crushing Rampage, Shogun had went on to win the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. He was the hottest 205 pounder in the world when he faced Griffin. But he was coming off a layoff and an injury, and Griffin simply had more gas. Rua couldn't put away the Ultimate Fighter, and Griffin, fighting the greatest fight of his life, choked him out in the third round.
Even with that win under his belt, few thought Griffin had the skills to beat Rampage. In fact, most considered this match a "gimme" for Jackson--an easy win after enduring a brutal five round affair with Henderson. But Forrest didn't fight like a man who expected to lose. He slammed Rampage with leg kicks and kept him off balance for much of the fight. Rampage did hurt Forrest though--almost knocked him out, in fact. But Forrest survived and fought until the final bell.
Before the judges rendered their decision, I checked my scorecard, and then double checked it. I had scored the fight for Rampage. By one point. However, I knew the fight had been close. When Bruce Buffer cried, "and NEW Light Heavyweight Champion!" I can't say that I was shocked. Of the two fighters, Griffin seemed to want it more.
And that is one of the constant knocks on Rampage--that he doesn't work hard enough. That he doesn't care enough about himself and the sport to stay in shape, or to train like an absolute mad man. Compare that to a champion like Georges "Rush" St. Pierre, who was always in shape, no matter if he was two weeks from a fight or two years from one. Georges was a professional. He took the sport seriously and put in the work to ensure that he was the best he could be on fight night.
Rampage, on the other hand, has almost missed weight on several occasions. He fights at 205 pounds, but reports state that he walks around at closer to 230 pounds. That's a ton of weight to cut. Some would argue that he should be more mindful of his diet and of his cardio between fights; that way he's not killing himself during training camp to make weight. After all, if a fighter's mind is on cutting weight, how well can he focus on important factors like strategy?
Regardless, on the night that Rampage lost to Forrest Griffin, it was obvious that he hadn't planned for Griffin's leg kicks. This was a major tactical flaw. Griffin had used leg kicks in many of his previous fights. Even as Griffin slammed one after another into Rampage's thighs, Rampage seemed unable to adjust. The most common leg kick defense is to "check" the kick. That is, to raise your own leg off the ground and block the kick with your knee. Chris Weidman famously broke Anderson Silva's leg in half when he checked Silva's kick. Simply put, checks work. Yet Rampage looked like he had no idea what one was.
Who knows? Perhaps if he hadn't been so focused on cutting weight, Rampage may have made the time to practice checks during training camp. A few solid checks could have completely changed the tone of their fight, forcing the brittle-chinned Griffin to stand and bang with the heavy-handed champion.
So after one title defense, Rampage was no longer the world champion.
Tune in next time to see how Rampage bounced back from that loss. I'll give you a hint: he faced a familiar foe.
Until then.
No comments:
Post a Comment