The hype surrounding Jon Jones is certainly justified.
And Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who witnessed it first-hand, is now a firm believer.
Following Jones’ victory over Jackson at UFC 135, the former PRIDE star had nothing but respect and praise for the 24-year-old, who made his first successful title defense. Jackson had trouble finding his range throughout the duration of the bout and struggled against the champion, amounting little to no offense.
“I wasn’t sticking to my game plan like I trained to do. It was frustrating me…Jon’s presence, his reach and stuff, was really hard to deal with,” Jackson said following the bout. “I had guys taller than Jon doing the same thing, sparring with them, but I guess it’s different when you’re sparring and in an actual real fight.”
Although he utilized his range and distance to pick apart his opponent, Jones only managed to take Jackson down on two separate occasions but eventually passed his guard, took his back and applied a rear naked choke to submit the former champion in the fourth round. The loss marked the first time Jackson had been finished during his UFC tenure and his record now stands at 6-3 inside the Octagon and 32-9-0 overall.
Jones’ next title defense will be against rival, Rashad Evans, who Jackson believes is and the only challenger capable of dethroning the young champion.
“I think Rashad is the only person, basically, who has a chance to beat him since Rashad trained with him before,” said Jackson. “So other than Rashad, I don’t see anybody beating this kid, straight up.”
And while the future might look undetermined for Jackson momentarily, Rampage did request for a rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua during his post-fight interview. Rua defeated Jackson at PRIDE Total Elimination 2005.
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