Bleacher Report’s Sean Smith:Recently promoted to the main event of UFC 130, a fight between Quinton Jackson and Matt Hamill has drawn some heat for its lack of appeal as a feature fight.Traditionally, the UFC has done an excellent job of putting toget…
Bleacher Report’s Sean Smith:
Recently promoted to the main event of UFC 130, a fight between Quinton Jackson and Matt Hamill has drawn some heat for its lack of appeal as a feature fight.
Traditionally, the UFC has done an excellent job of putting together fights that the fans want to see.
However, sometimes injuries and limited options can put the organization in a rough spot when it comes to matchmaking.
As was the case for UFC 130 when a title fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard was cancelled due to injuries to both fighters.
Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron:The finalized fight card is out for UFC 130 and I’m back to provide fight fans with customized graphics for each bout on this pay-per-view event. While the UFC has released its official poster featuring the light hea…
Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron:
The finalized fight card is out for UFC 130 and I’m back to provide fight fans with customized graphics for each bout on this pay-per-view event.
While the UFC has released its official poster featuring the light heavyweight main event of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill, they do not provide individualized graphics for all ten of the bouts.
These graphics are each equipped with the Bleacher Report MMA section’s stamp, but can be used on other websites provided that the user links back to Bleacher Report MMA’s coverage of UFC 130. Higher-resolution versions of the graphics are also available for download.
Without further ado, let’s get to the finalized fight card and graphics for each fight!
Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:With only a few days left before his main event bout with Matt Hamill at UFC 130, UFC light heavyweight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson spent some time to shed some light on his opponent.Jackson appeared on “The Late Late Show …
Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:
With only a few days left before his main event bout with Matt Hamill at UFC 130, UFC light heavyweight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson spent some time to shed some light on his opponent.
Jackson appeared on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” last night to promote the event and he said he is focused and motivated to compete this weekend.
When asked on a prediction for the bout, Jackson said he would prefer to end it quickly as possible.
“I’m not sure, actually I’m hoping to end it fast,” Jackson told Ferguson.
Jackson joked that after a long and grueling training camp, he hopes to go to his after-party to drink and celebrate his victory.
While he is known for his humorous and colorful personality, Jackson is a motivated and serious competitor inside the Octagon. Since his debut, Jackson is 9-2 in the UFC and is one of the few successful fighters to cross over from Pride FC. A former UFC light heavyweight champion, Jackson has picked up victories over such fighters as: Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva.
The finalized fight card is out for UFC 130 and I’m back to provide fight fans with customized graphics for each bout on this pay-per-view event. While the UFC has released its official poster featuring the light heavyweight main event of Quinton …
The finalized fight card is out for UFC 130 and I’m back to provide fight fans with customized graphics for each bout on this pay-per-view event.
While the UFC has released its official poster featuring the light heavyweight main event of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill, they do not provide individualized graphics for all ten of the bouts.
These graphics are each equipped with the Bleacher Report MMA section’s stamp, but can be used on other websites provided that the user links back to Bleacher Report MMA’s coverage of UFC 130. Higher-resolution versions of the graphics are also available for download.
Without further ado, let’s get to the finalized fight card and graphics for each fight!
Sometimes the best way to get a feel for an upcoming clash of MMA fighters is to take a look at some of their best quotes leading up to the event.When fighters reiterate the same thing we have heard a million times before, it is not necessarily a bad t…
Sometimes the best way to get a feel for an upcoming clash of MMA fighters is to take a look at some of their best quotes leading up to the event.
When fighters reiterate the same thing we have heard a million times before, it is not necessarily a bad thing because they are probably in the right frame of mind, but it is always great when we get something fresh and original.
So what are the best quotes leading up to UFC 130?
Well there are a ton of great matchups, so let us see who is ready to bring the hammer.
We’re now only a few days away from UFC 130, featuring a main event between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson and perennial contender Matt Hamill. The bout was originally a lead-in to the third and likely final fight between Frank E…
We’re now only a few days away from UFC 130, featuring a main event between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson and perennial contender Matt Hamill. The bout was originally a lead-in to the third and likely final fight between Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard, but was bumped up to main event status when both Maynard and Edgar pulled out due to injury.
Since then, Jackson-Hamill has received a rather lukewarm response from a large section of the MMA fanbase, who seem to decry the fight as uninteresting or boring. And I have to tell you, fans and friends… I’m just not seeing it. And I think everyone needs to stop complaining about this fight.
I understand some of the hesitation regarding this fight, sure. Even as a big fan of both Jackson and Hamill, I can admit that this fight isn’t as high-value or as eagerly anticipated as the original UFC 130 main event. That was a huge fight that got pulled, and so of course I can understand why people are a bit upset about it. But that’s pretty much where the mutual understanding ends and the confusion begins.
Why does everyone think this fight is going to suck or be boring? I just don’t get it. I know why some people think it’ll be an uneventful fight…but those people are wrong. Don’t believe me? Allow me to dissect the cynics’ main arguments as I perceive them. We’ll start with something I see all the time: Matt Hamill is a boring fighter.
To which I say: what Matt Hamill have you been watching? Certainly not the one that’s in the UFC.
Sure, Matt Hamill is a wrestling-based fighter. Sure, wrestling-based fighters have some degree of stigma attached to them, however inadvertently, based on their perceived penchant for going to boring decisions. But Matt Hamill is not that type of fighter, he’s never been that type of fighter, and leading into this fight with Jackson, I have no earthly idea why so many people take him as that type of fighter.
The results speak for themselves: Matt Hamill has fought 11 times in the UFC and only lost twice. He’s faced some very tough challenges in that time: Michael Bisping, Rich Franklin, Mark Munoz, Jon Jones, and more. He’s currently on a five-fight win-streak with two stoppages, two decisions, and one DQ. The fact that Matt Hamill has been to a decision in his two most-recent fights shouldn’t overshadow the fact that he’s finished a majority of his fights, with six (T)KOs throughout his career. And to top it all off, all six of those (T)KOs occurred in either the first or second round.
Granted, many people still have a problem with Matt Hamill “beating” Jon Jones by Disqualification. But the situation is as cut-and-dry as they come: Jon Jones destroyed Matt Hamill, and then he got a little too excited and started throwing some illegal elbows. To those that still hold this win against Matt Hamill, my response is very simple: Jon Jones may have destroyed Matt Hamill, but Jon Jones destroys everybody. Get over it.
Other than Matt Hamill being a boring fighter, another common criticism I’ve heard surrounding this match is that Quinton Jackson just doesn’t want to fight anymore. And while that’s a critique that’s not without some merit, it’s frankly being grossly over-blown.
It’s true that Quinton Jackson appears to be heading towards the end of his fighting career. It’s true that he’s stated in multiple interviews that he’s not Randy Couture and doesn’t envision himself competing past the age of 40. It’s even true that Jackson hasn’t looked too impressive in his two most-recent outings.
All of that is true, but so is this: Matt Hamill has lit a fire under Quinton Jackson, and with the ring rust now more or less shaken off, Jackson can get back to doing what he does best: putting on great fights.
Let’s not forget that before his recent two-fight dry-spell, Jackson had delivered some awesome fights in the UFC. Let’s not forget that Quinton Jackson is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and was the man that dethroned Chuck Liddell. Let’s not forget that despite all his flaws, Jackson remains a very popular and marketable star. Quinton Jackson, taken solely by himself, is a worthy main event star.
At the end of the day, it’s not easy being a realist and an optimist at the same time, but I’d like to consider myself both. This is one of those rare times where both the realist in me and the optimist in me are in agreement. Realistically, this fight has a better chance of being a quality main event than an underwhelming mismatch: you’ve got a very hungry Matt Hamill facing a Quinton Jackson that wants to put him in his place. And if these two bring out the best in each other (and that’s the optimist talking), we’re going to get a fantastic fight. So stop worrying, and most importantly… stop complaining.
