Rampage Jackson is the former UFC light heavyweight champion and has fought several future and current Hall of Famers, but one opponent sticks out as the hardest hitter.
Jackson was never scared of any opponent and in his career, he fought the likes of Jon Jones, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Lyoto Machida, and Glover Teixeira, but he says Fedor Emelianenko is the person who hit the hardest.
“I always said Kevin Randleman until my last fight with Fedor,” Jackson said when asked who hit him the hardest on the JAXXON podcast (via talkSport). “Fedor hit me with a punch. I never even saw that punch coming. Never even saw it.”
Jackson’s last fight as a pro-MMA fight was against Emelianenko in December of 2019 and it was the Russian who won by first-round knockout, as Jackson says he didn’t even see the punch and the power he had put him out.
Rampage Jackson Glad He Fought Fedor Emelianenko
Fedor Emelianenko is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.
The Russian was a feared heavyweight for years, and although Rampage Jackson lost to him, he says he is happy he got the chance to share the ring with him.
“He’s my favorite fighter. I love watching him fight. He’s no-nonsense. When he fought Kevin Randleman, Kevin Randleman slammed him on his neck and the Japanese newspapers took pictures of him,” Jackson said.
“Frame by frame they showed Fedor upside down in the air getting slammed and his facial expression never changed. Stone cold. That’s not normal, bro. Fedor, for a heavyweight, he was really fast. And he was very dangerous on the ground, so he submitted a lot of people,” Jackson added.
Rampage Jackson finished his MMA career with a record of 38-14 and is the former UFC light heavyweight and unified the Pride middleweight title when he won the light heavyweight title.
In his career, Jackson holds notable wins over Liddell, Kevin Randleman, Dan Henderson, and Wanderlei Silva among others.