In part 5 of this series, I left off just as Rampage received the news that he would be fighting once more for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. His opponent, this time, would be the young phenom, Jon "Bones" Jones, who had just destroyed Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (a man who once destroyed Rampage...).
By most accounts, Rampage took the training for this fight seriously. After his loss to Forrest Griffin, Rampage admitted that he had barely even trained. But for this title fight, he started training for Jones a mere two weeks after defeating Matt Hamill. This dedication paid dividends for his physique, and it showed at the weigh-ins. Rampage, who often balloons to north of 235 pounds between fights, came in a pound under the Light Heavyweight limit of 205. He looked the part of a man ready to regain his title. A man ready to risk everything in the cage.
But that wasn't what we got. Instead, we got a man who had no answers for the young champion. Jon Jones had his way with him. Jones kicked him in the head, the calves, the body and the thighs.
He punched him, elbowed him, and poked him in the eyes.
I may have gone all Dr. Seuss just then, but Dr. Seuss would have been an appropriate fight commentator that night, because Rampage seemed frozen. It was as if he had forgotten he was fighting for the undisputed championship of the world. It was bizarre to watch.
At the end of the second round, Jones pulled guard and slapped a triangle onto Rampage just as the bell sounded to end the round. It wasn't as if Jones thought he could win the fight with that move and with such little time remaining--triangle chokes normally take several seconds to render their victim unconscious. No, Jones was sending a message to Rampage and to the whole world. The message was simple: I can finish this anytime I want.
So why didn't he just finish things? I believe it was because Jones was having too much fun beating the crap out of Rampage. At the last second of the third round, Jones shot for a double leg takedown. As the bell rang, he lifted Rampage onto his back and then tossed him backwards, dropping him face first onto the canvas. He walked away without a single backward glance. Joe Rogan stated, "Whoa, that was a major diss..."
And Rampage was powerless to do anything about it. In the fourth round, Jones battered Rampage with ease. Ultimately, he took him down, took his back, sank a rear naked choke, and made him tap. It was a humiliating and inglorious end to what he had hoped would be his return to glory.
He would fight twice more in the Octagon, losing both times. Ultimate Fighter winner, Ryan Bader, would beat him by unanimous decision, as would recent title challenger, Glover Teixeira. Throughout it all, Rampage complained that the UFC didn't respect him enough and didn't pay him enough. When his contract ran out, the UFC let him walk.
He walked to Bellator, the organization that has been like a chihuahua nipping at the UFC's heels. They're not big enough to do any real damage, but they sure are annoying. Most annoyingly, they refused to let one of their top lightweights, Eddie Alvarez, leave the organization for the proverbial greener pastures of the UFC after his Bellator contract had expired. They kept him in litigation until he finally relented and gave up on his UFC dream.
To their chagrin, Eddie came back and beat their lightweight champion, Michael Chandler. He then dropped out of his rubber match with Chandler this week, claiming a head injury. With Alvarez/Chandler 3 scrapped, guess who gets the main event? You guessed it.
Rampage.
Since signing with Bellator, Rampage has won two fights. Both have been impressive knockout victories. In his first fight outside of the Octagon, he was matched with fellow UFC alumni, Joey Beltran. In his second fight, he was matched with former Bellator champion, Christian M'Pumbu. Rampage looked good in those fights. He deserves credit for that. But let's be clear: he should look good against that caliber of opponent. Neither Beltran or M'Pumbu boast a world-class record. Rampage was far and away the biggest name either man had ever faced.
This weekend he will face Muhammad Lawal, who is also known as "King Mo." Lawal owns an impressive wrestling background and ever-improving boxing. Unfortunately, he also owns a questionable chin. He has been knocked absolutely stiff twice in his short mixed martial arts career--once by Rafael Calvacante and once by Emmanuel Newton. Newton, in fact, beat him a second time when they rematched in November 2013.
While Lawal has big wins over guys like Gegard Mousasi and Roger Gracie, those losses of his keep me from getting too excited about him. With that being said, his wrestling may be good enough to beat Rampage. Chances are, Lawal will not stand and trade punches with Rampage. At least, that wouldn't be the smartest strategy. Rampage's chin is proven. He can take one heck of a punch. Additionally, Rampage hits like a Peterbilt. If guys like Calvacante and Newton can knock out Lawal, you'd better believe that Rampage can do it if he hits him clean.
So I think Lawal will likely employ the same strategy he used against Gegard Mousasi. He'll shoot for the takedown over and over, and try to grind out a decision. The scary thing for Rampage is that Lawal may be good enough to do it.
I see this ending one of two ways: Lawal by unanimous decision or Rampage by knockout. Since Rampage has accomplished more on a world-class level, I lean toward Rampage getting the win. With that being said, I would not be surprised by a Lawal decision victory.
If Lawal wins, it could mean the last chapter of the Rampage saga. If Rampage wins, he's still just a big fish in a small pond since he's no longer swimming in the big blue oceans of the UFC.
Either way, it will be interesting to watch play out.
Until then.
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