Rampage Jackson on Lyoto Machida: ‘He’s So Boring I Go to Sleep’

Filed under: UFC, NewsQuinton “Rampage” Jackson’s growing celebrity makes him one of the few MMA stars who can do the late-night circuit to promote his fighting career. On Thursday night, Jackson appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to di…

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Rampage JacksonQuinton “Rampage” Jackson’s growing celebrity makes him one of the few MMA stars who can do the late-night circuit to promote his fighting career. On Thursday night, Jackson appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to discuss his upcoming UFC 123 fight with Lyoto Machida.

A smiling Jackson appeared well at ease joking around with Ferguson, and while the conversation veered to different topics at times, Jackson did get to take a jab at Machida’s style during his appearance. After being asked by Ferguson what he knew about Machida, Jackson laughed.

Rampage Jackson Still Not a Fan of Lyoto Machida’s Fighting Style

Filed under: UFC, NewsSeveral moons ago, back in March 2009, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson did what he often does, he riffed on a topic that didn’t necessarily pertain to him at the time. The subject that day was Lyoto Machida, who was then still unbeaten …

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Several moons ago, back in March 2009, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson did what he often does, he riffed on a topic that didn’t necessarily pertain to him at the time. The subject that day was Lyoto Machida, who was then still unbeaten and on his way to becoming the UFC light-heavyweight champion.

Jackson, it seemed, wasn’t a fan of Machida’s deliberate, karate-based style, and though he admitted Machida was good, he called him “boring as hell.” All this time later, Jackson’s words were resurrected and offered up to him to see if he had changed or perhaps softened his opinion on the man he’ll be facing next week at UFC 123. It didn’t take a genius to know what was coming.

State of the UFC Light Heavyweights

Filed under: UFCNovember is a month without any title fights, which makes it a good time to take a long view of the future title picture in each weight class. Today we look at the light heavyweight division.

The light heavyweight division is both the …

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November is a month without any title fights, which makes it a good time to take a long view of the future title picture in each weight class. Today we look at the light heavyweight division.

The light heavyweight division is both the UFC’s most talented weight class and — right now anyway — its most frustrating. There are so many good fights that can be made, but the championship belt is tied up because the champion, Shogun Rua, is recovering from knee surgery.

It’s been almost a year and a half since anyone other than Shogun and Lyoto Machida has fought for the light heavyweight title, and it’ll probably be another six months or so until we see Shogun defend his title again. So as we look at the light heavyweight division, we’re looking at a division with a wealth of contenders but a shortage of title fights.

Machida Isn’t Assuming Anything About Rampage Heading into Their UFC 123 Bout

(There’s an ad for a sports drink if I ever saw one.)
Lyoto Machida isn’t taking anything for granted in preparing for his upcoming bout with Quinton Jackson at UFC 123 November 20.
The former UFC light heavyweight champ says he’s preparing for every s…


(There’s an ad for a sports drink if I ever saw one.)

Lyoto Machida isn’t taking anything for granted in preparing for his upcoming bout with Quinton Jackson at UFC 123 November 20.

The former UFC light heavyweight champ says he’s preparing for every scenario that "Rampage" may present him with during the fight — even the unlikelihood that Jackson may demonstrate some newly developed kickboxing skills.

"Well, I always think for a MMA fight, despite the specialties of each fighter, you have to be prepared for anything, because we can never know what the guy is up to. A guy who doesn’t know how to kick may be kicking on the following fight, you can’t tell for sure. The need leads the frog to a jump. We have many examples of people who are good on areas that aren’t theirs specialties: Georges St. Pierre has improved a lot his Wrestling, people that didn’t kick are now kicking and so it goes… I don’t underestimate any fighter," Machida told Tatame.com. "I think that, just as I’m prepared for anything during the fight, so are they: the stand-up game, the takedowns and the ground game. Of course we have our game plan set, our strong point is Karate and the exchanges, but if we need to use the other skills, we will do the takedowns and the ground game that I train here with Valter Broca, who’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, graduated by De La Riva, who always help me on this area."

As far as Jackson’s gameplan, Machida doesn’t think Quinton will shy away from standing with him, despite his tough to defend against unorthodox karate striking prowess.

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MMA Top 10 Pound-for-Pound: Penn Falls Out

Filed under: UFC, WEC, Rankings, OverallWith his second straight unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn is no longer one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

He’s long been considered one of the truly elite fighters in mix…

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With his second straight unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn is no longer one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

He’s long been considered one of the truly elite fighters in mixed martial arts, but the soon-to-be 32-year-old Penn has looked in his two fights this year like he has slowed down. Penn is the greatest lightweight ever to fight in MMA, but even the greatest decline eventually.

So Penn isn’t in my pound-for-pound Top 10 anymore. To find out who is, read on.

Palace of Auburn Hills to Host UFC 123; Rampage vs. Machida to Headline

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsUFC 123 is headed to Auburn Hills, Michigan.

That’s the word from UFC president Dana White, who told MMA Fighting that the finalization of a deal to bring the Nov. 20 event to The Palace of Auburn Hills in the…

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UFC 123 is headed to Auburn Hills, Michigan.

That’s the word from UFC president Dana White, who told MMA Fighting that the finalization of a deal to bring the Nov. 20 event to The Palace of Auburn Hills in the Detroit suburb closed on Wednesday morning.