Tag: Gray Maynard

UFC News: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Says He Won’t Fight Past 35 Years Old

After recent reports suggested that Quinton Jackson was fighting on borrowed time, as he planned to pursue an acting career and depart mixed martial arts altogether, the Memphis,Tennessee native downplayed the rumours quickly. While speaking to ES…

After recent reports suggested that Quinton Jackson was fighting on borrowed time, as he planned to pursue an acting career and depart mixed martial arts altogether, the Memphis,Tennessee native downplayed the rumours quickly. 

While speaking to ESPN.co.uk, Jackson said he was misquoted by the media and insisted he is training hard for his upcoming bout with Matt Hamill at UFC 130. 

“Matt Hamill’s a tough guy with good wrestling, and he moves forward. So hopefully it’ll be an exciting fight,” Jackson said. 

Jackson and Hamill were originally featured in the co-main event but after both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard became injured, the two light-heavyweights quickly found themselves promoted to main event status. 

Never one to shy away from a camera or a microphone, Jackson’s colorful personality has contributed to his success in and outside of the UFC. Last year, Jackson was cast alongside actor Bradley Cooper in the remake of The A-Team. 

And while he has shown a desire to continue his acting career, Jackson’s first priority is to fight but he does not intend to be doing it for much longer. 

Jackson, who turns 33 this year, admits he is not the same fighter he used to be. 

“There are young guys coming in and doing good. I’ve been fighting for a long time and it’s no secret that I don’t fight the same way I used to,” he said.

“Going through each camp I go through all these pains and think, ‘Man I don’t want to do this anymore’. But after the fight I say, ‘OK, I’ll give it one more’. So who knows? But at 35 I’m done.”

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Backlash Following Injury Announcements a Puzzling Phenomenon

Filed under: UFCIt’s been a rough week for the UFC and its fighters. On Monday, MMA Fighting broke the news that both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were injured, canceling UFC 130’s lightweight championship main event. On Thursday the UFC announced th…

Filed under:

It’s been a rough week for the UFC and its fighters. On Monday, MMA Fighting broke the news that both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were injured, canceling UFC 130’s lightweight championship main event. On Thursday the UFC announced that Brock Lesnar had a recurrence of diverticulitis and was forced out of his UFC 131 matchup with Junior dos Santos. And on Friday, it was revealed that light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones would not need surgery on an injured thumb, but was still sidelined from training until mid-June.

While the news was bad enough on its own merits, it came with its own accompanying baggage: backlash. The phenomenon is nothing new, but it remains as puzzling as ever. Do these men and women who get in a cage and fight for a living really have anything to prove about their courage?

On one hand, it’s easy to understand why the sport’s followers would be disappointed when fighters are forced out of action. In the event when an entire match is canceled — as in the instance of Edgar-Maynard — it’s even clearer. We always hope for the best fights, and are disappointed when they don’t happen. But on the other, the accusations that are casually lobbed at fighters afterward are often over the line and border on downright hysteria.

Ultimate Fighter Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos: UFC & Spike Should Update Adds

As I watched the new episode of the Ultimate Fighter on a hot and humid night in Tennessee, something I rarely see caught my eye. The main event for UFC 130 has been changed to the Quinton Jackson and Matt Hamill match-up, yet the promos for the event …

As I watched the new episode of the Ultimate Fighter on a hot and humid night in Tennessee, something I rarely see caught my eye. The main event for UFC 130 has been changed to the Quinton Jackson and Matt Hamill match-up, yet the promos for the event have not changed. 

It seems odd that the UFC or Spike would make such a simple error.

There very well could be thousands of people who, at this moment, do not know that Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard have both had to withdraw due to injury.  It is not a huge deal to me or anyone who follows the sport constantly, but it could leave a bad taste in the mouth of the casual fan.

Hopefully, by tomorrow the mistake has been corrected and the people who see the replays will know of the change.  Not everyone follows the news like hardcore fans do and that was very misleading.

In the end it probably won’t matter all that much because there are three weeks remaining to do damage control for the hiccup but in an era when the UFC President is touting that they can compete with the NFL, NBA and MLB nothing can be spared to scratch their way to the top.

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UFC 130: Frankie Edgar Says A Back Injury Kept Him Out of The Main Event

The anticipated third bout featuring UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard, has been scrapped after both fighters sustained injuries during their respective training camps.Since the announcement, Edgar spoke with UFC.com to…

The anticipated third bout featuring UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard, has been scrapped after both fighters sustained injuries during their respective training camps.

Since the announcement, Edgar spoke with UFC.com to discuss the cause of his injury.

“All of the reports are talking about my ribs, it’s actually my back,” he said. “My back’s been bothering me for quite some time. A few weeks ago I had to take a week off so that my back could calm down and I was trying to fight through it. 

Edgar added that he went to see a specialist in Las Vegas to understand the injury and to get treated for it. 

“I saw a UFC doctor yesterday and he said my L2 and L5 discs are bulged, and he recommended that I don’t fight right now,” he said. 

Edgar and Maynard have met on two previous occasions. Maynard scored one victory over the New Jersey native at UFC Fight Night 13, while their second meeting resulted in a draw at UFC 125. 

Despite suffering a back injury, Edgar said he still intended to fight through the injury and perform at UFC 130.

“I didn’t want to postpone the bout at all. I feel like I lost the fight right now. I’m very depressed about this whole situation”, Edgar said. “It’s not fair to myself, to Gray, it’s not fair to the fans to take a fight like this.”

As a result, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt Hamill, who were originally scheduled as the co-main event, will now fill the main event slot.

When asked about his current schedule, Edgar said he doesn’t know when he plans to return, but he said he will be prepared to fight against his opponent, Gray Maynard.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be out,” he said. 

“From what I hear, Gray is pretty banged up and he wasn’t having the best camp either, so maybe everything happens for a reason. I know that when I fight Gray I want him to be at his best, he wants me to be at my best and I’m sure the fans want us both at our best too.”

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UFC 130 Preview: Highlight Videos of the Main Card Fighters

Bleacher Report’s Bryan Levick:Today the realization that UFC 130 has lost its extremely exciting and much anticipated main event has probably began to sunk in. No one would have thought that a third fight between UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edg…

Bleacher Report’s Bryan Levick:

Today the realization that UFC 130 has lost its extremely exciting and much anticipated main event has probably began to sunk in. No one would have thought that a third fight between UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar and UFC No. 1 Lightweight Contender Gray Maynard would spark so much interest.

Yet that is exactly what happened in the early hours of January 2, not too long after Edgar and Maynard put on a thrilling back and forth affair that encompassed the entire 25 minutes allotted to them for their main event matchup. Once the judges’ scorecards were read and a draw was determined, UFC President Dana White made the decision within an hour or two to have Maynard and Edgar square off one more time.

With Edgar-Maynard leading the way, the main card was shaping up pretty nicely. Rampage Jackson was set to face Thiago Silva, but Silva was suspended and Matt Hamill stepped up to face the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Two heavyweights with backgrounds in both Las Vegas and grappling will meet up as Roy Nelson fights former UFC heavyweight Champion Frank Mir.

And so on and so forth, the wheels keep spinning. With just under three weeks and having both Maynard & Edgar injured, the UFC was forced to scrap the fight altogether and bump the Hamill-Rampage fight to the main-event slot.

So that leaves me with the task of trying to drum up some serious interest in the remaining bouts on the main pay-per-view portion of the card. Let’s take a look at some highlight videos and try and get the blood flowing in anticipation of these fights.

Click here to read the entire article.

Frankie Edgar Details Injury That Forced Him Out of UFC 130

(Frankie was willing to fight injured — that is until he heard about his new insurance plan)

UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar spoke with Mike Straka from UFC.com today and expounded on the injury that forced him to pull out of his upcoming UFC 130 rubber match with Gray Maynard. According to the Toms River, New Jersey native, reports that he suffered a rib injury in training were erroneous.

“All of the reports are talking about my ribs, it’s actually my back. My back’s been bothering me for quite some time. A few weeks ago I had to take a week off so that my back could calm down and I was trying to fight through it,” Edgar explains. “I got through it and it kept blowing out on me here and there but then I ended up blowing out a rib last week. My rib kept popping in and out and then last week my back went out on me really bad, so I went to see a doctor and he said I’ve got bulging discs and now I’m going to go see a specialist to see what he can do about it.”

(Frankie was willing to fight injured — that is until he heard about his new insurance plan)

UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar spoke with Mike Straka from UFC.com today and expounded on the injury that forced him to pull out of his upcoming UFC 130 rubber match with Gray Maynard. According to the Toms River, New Jersey native, reports that he suffered a rib injury in training were erroneous.

“All of the reports are talking about my ribs, it’s actually my back. My back’s been bothering me for quite some time. A few weeks ago I had to take a week off so that my back could calm down and I was trying to fight through it,” Edgar explains. “I got through it and it kept blowing out on me here and there but then I ended up blowing out a rib last week. My rib kept popping in and out and then last week my back went out on me really bad, so I went to see a doctor and he said I’ve got bulging discs and now I’m going to go see a specialist to see what he can do about it.

“The Answer” says that he was contemplating fighting through the excruciating pain to go through with his third title defense, but was told by a doctor that he shouldn’t be doing anything more than resting. Since then he says he has spent the majority of his time laying sprawled out on his back on the floor as it’s the only position that alleviates the pain and pressure on his back.

“I saw a UFC doctor yesterday and he said my L2 and L5 discs are bulged, and he recommended that I don’t fight right now. I can’t even put my socks on or hold my kids, it’s pretty bad right now. I was planning on going through with the fight with the back injury. I didn’t want to postpone the bout at all. I feel like I lost the fight right now,” he says. “I’m very depressed about this whole situation. I’m sure in a couple of days I’ll realize I did the right thing by going to see a doctor. It’s not fair to myself, to Gray, it’s not fair to the fans to take a fight like this. I mean, I’m never 100 percent healthy when I step in the Octagon anyway but this is something different. I’m not even 30% right now. When it’s really inflamed, the pain is excruciating. When [the injury] happened on Saturday the drive back home from Ricardo [Almeida’s gym] was the longest drive of my life.”

Although he’s disappointed the fight had to be postponed, Edgar says that the fans deserve to see him fight Maynard (who is also tending to his own training injuries) as close to 100 percent healthy as possible.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be out. I’m hoping surgery won’t be an option right now, I’m hoping I can rehab it and get better and get back to training in a month, but I can’t give you any solid answer right now as to how long I’ll be out,” says Edgar. “From what I hear, Gray is pretty banged up and he wasn’t having the best camp either, so maybe everything happens for a reason. I know that when I fight Gray I want him to be at his best, he wants me to be at my best and I’m sure the fans want us both at our best too.”