UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his next opponent Quinton “Rampage” Jackson have been firing back and forth at each other, verbally, because of Rampage’s claim that Jones has a spy in his camp.
The quarreling seems to have reached a boiling point, with Rampage posting this tweet late last night:
“@Jonnybones yeah I keep it real,I fight 4 $ cause I hate training,but I love giving ass whoopins,and ill b giving 1 on the 24th,btw grow up!”
Within this tweet, Rampage has made the promise that he will give Jones an “ass whoopin” when they meet at UFC 135, which takes place on September 24.
However, one has to wonder if there is any bite behind Rampage’s bark.
It’s been a while since he has looked really good against a top-level opponent and earlier this year he defeated Matt Hamill, but his victory came via decision.
In Hamill’s next fight, he was finished in the first round by Alexander Gustafsson, who isn’t even a top-10 light heavyweight.
So, if a barely-known fighter was able to finish a fighter that he couldn’t, does Rampage stand a realistic chance of defeating the No. 1 light heavyweight in the world today?
Probably not.
Rampage seems motivated for this fight, which is something we haven’t seen in a while, but I doubt that motivation will be enough to carry him through to victory.
Jones is arguably the most well-rounded fighter in the light heavyweight division and Rampage isn’t much more than a boxer these days.
Rampage also had a hard time dealing with the wrestling of Rashad Evans, and from what we’ve seen, Jones has more dominant takedowns than Evans does.
Apart from the wrestling advantage, Jones also has a significant reach advantage and a more complete arsenal of strikes.
Realistically, the only things Rampage has going for him are his punching power and maybe superior boxing technique.
The way things are looking, Jones seems to be the future of MMA and Rampage is one of few old-school fighters still surviving on a one-dimensional skill set.
There is always the chance that Rampage could land a solid punch and win this fight, but the smart money would bet on Jones being the one distributing an “ass-whoopin” on September 24.
Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacherreport.com. For updates on what’s happening in the world of MMA, follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AndrewBarr8
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