Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson tore into reigning 205-pound kingpin Jon Jones in his recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour.
“He’s fake. I don’t agree with his fighting style. I think I can beat Jon Jones. I know I can beat him. Jon Jones is the type of guy you have to fight twice.”
Jackson had a shot at reclaiming UFC gold when he faced Jones at UFC 135, but Rampage had no answers when the champion took him down,eventually getting submitted with a rear naked choke in the fourth round.
The former PRIDE star was also critical of the way Jones fought Vitor Belfort at UFC 152.
“Vitor took the fight on short notice, and this is how you respect him, by kicking his knee backwards and stuff like that? He’s supposed to be a man of God. You can injure somebody, you can sever their career. You can mess people up for life kicking their knee back like that and he does it repeatedly, over and over. To me that has no honor. I take a lot of honor in fighting. He has no honor.”
Despite the title fight being “The Phenom’s” first fight at light heavyweight in five years, he nearly shocked the MMA world by locking up an armbar from his guard early in the first round.
Showing the heart of a champion, Jones endured the pain and managed to escape before putting on a clinic and submitting Belfort with an Americana in Round 4.
Jones had his right arm in a sling after the fight and has been suspended indefinitely by The Office of the Athletics Commissioner of Ontario, though he can be cleared early after a doctor X-rays his arm.
At the tail end of the interview, UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione made a surprise appearance at the studio, challenging Rampage to a fight in the Octagon.
After back-and-forth trash talk, Rampage issued a “winner take all” stipulation to the fight, where the winner would receive both competitor’s fight purses. Mitrione has yet to accept or deny the challenge, but at the end of the day, that call is up to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.
Despite the weight difference, should Rampage vs. Mitrione be Jackson’s swan song in the UFC?
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