Perhaps the biggest thing that UFC 130 proved to fans is that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is not on the level of current budding champion Jon “Bones” Jones.
Credit the chin and will of Matt Hamill to Jackson’s inability to finish the fight against Hamill at UFC 130, but discredit Jackson’s excuse that his hand was fractured coming into the bout with Hamill. It should be an unwritten rule that fighters should not disclose injuries, especially as a possible excuse in a lackluster bout.
Jackson indeed tried his hardest to put away “The Hammer” landing almost double the amount of total strikes in the fight, 61-34. By far though, the most telling fact of the fight was Jackson’s takedown defense, stuffing all 17 attempts by Hamill en route to the decision victory.
With his win over Hamill, if Jackson skips over current No. 1 contender Rashad Evans or light heavyweight prospect Phil Davis, he’ll have his work cutout for him against Jones. If fans will remember correctly, it wasn’t till the third round of his fight with Evans when Jackson appeared to solve Evans, but still came out on the losing side of the decision. He’ll need a much better performance if he’s going to be the first man (aside from Hamill) to beat Jones.
The thing that is most difficult to understand is Rampage’s motivation. He’s publicly stated that he would like to retire at 35, leaving him with roughly two years remaining before he calls it quits.
Fighting current champ Jones may well be within that range of time, but Jackson’s no longer at the peak of his career and getting up for a fight of such a magnitude is, well, harder than it was many years ago for the MMA legend.
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