Miguel Torres vs Demetrious Johnson will be the “can’t miss” fight from Saturday night .While there will be plenty of eyes glued to the main card of UFC 130, there will be even more eyes watching the preliminary bouts on both Spike TV and Facebook.&nbs…
Miguel Torres vs Demetrious Johnson will be the “can’t miss” fight from Saturday night .
While there will be plenty of eyes glued to the main card of UFC 130, there will be even more eyes watching the preliminary bouts on both Spike TV and Facebook.
While all four of the preliminary bouts that will be aired look like compelling matches on paper, the one that people will be talking about on Monday will be Miguel Torres vs Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.
Since he suffered his lone career loss to Brad Pickett at WEC 48, Mighty Mouse has reeled off three wins in a row, including a victory in his UFC debut against Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.
His his bout against Yamamoto, Johnson’s striking looked very sharp, and his takedown defense was on point. In other words, it was the best Mighty Mouse we have seen to date.
Torres, the man with the greatest mullet in MMA, has been on a roller coaster lately. Since dropping his WEC bantamweight title to Brian Bowles, Torres has gone 2-1 while trying to climb his way back to the top of the division.
Both fighter’s stock are currently on the rise. Both are hungry to get a shot at the title.
At the end of the day, it will come down to the striking prowess of Torres vs the grappling prowess of Johnson.
If Torres clips your chin, you just may go to sleep.
If Johnson gets you to the mat, good luck getting him off of you.
Regardless of the outcome, everyone knows that the “pocket rockets” come out and fight at 100 mph. Expect to see these two fighters going 145 mph and put on a show sealing performance.
Should Quinton Jackson lose to Matt Hamill, don’t expect to see him back in the Octagon any time soon. Throughout the build up to the event, “Rampage” Jackson has expressed a certain amount of disinterest about his fight against Matt Hamill. He has gon…
Should Quinton Jackson lose to Matt Hamill, don’t expect to see him back in the Octagon any time soon.
Throughout the build up to the event, “Rampage” Jackson has expressed a certain amount of disinterest about his fight against Matt Hamill. He has gone as far to say nothing gets him excited, and that he had other opponents in mind before Hamill.
Rampage has been very public as of late about how he is just hanging around the mixed martial arts scene until Hollywood comes knocking at his front door.
Can you really blame him for that? If you had the choice between getting punched in the face for a lot of money, or acting the fool in front of a camera for a whole lot of money, which one would you choose?
Jackson has been around the game for a long time. His bouts against Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell, Shogun Rua, Sakuraba, and Ricardo Arona will be forever embedded in the minds of mixed martial arts fans.
After all the wars in the ring and Octagon, one could believe that Rampage may be getting a little “burned out” with the fight game. With the success of the A-Team, it must only be a matter of time before Jackson is offered another movie roll.
Should he leave Las Vegas Saturday night with an additional loss on his record, expect Rampage to wait for that call from Hollywood.
That call may take a little time to come, but Jackson has plenty of money. He can wait.
This Saturday night, UFC 130 will be going down live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in fabulous Las Vegas, NV.While the card has lost a little of its sexiness due to the fact that Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard will not be fighting for the third time …
This Saturday night, UFC 130 will be going down live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in fabulous Las Vegas, NV.
While the card has lost a little of its sexiness due to the fact that Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard will not be fighting for the third time due to injuries suffered by each fighter, the card still has much to offer the fans.
Headlining the card, you have the experience of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs the hungriness of Matt Hamill. The co-feature will put two of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in the heavyweight division against each other when Frank Mir takes on Roy Nelson.
Also on the pay-per-view portion of the card, up-and-coming Stefan Struve will be facing off against the undefeated Travis Browne in a heavyweight bout, Thiago Alves will be taking on Ricky Story in a welterweight bout, and Brian Stann will be facing the returning Jorge Santiago in a middleweight tilt.
On top of that, there will be four preliminary fights airing on Spike TV and Facebook.
While no titles are going to be on the line Saturday evening, there could be the emergence, or reemergence, of potential contenders moving forward.
Here are the latest predictions, analysis, and other random thoughts.
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…
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.
And although he appeared to poke fun at his opponent, Hamill has built a respectable resume to his name, earning victories over Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz, and is one of the most competitive fighters in the UFC light heavyweight division.
UFC 130 takes place this Saturday night, live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Despite the bad blood that exists between light heavyweight contenders Rashad “Suga” Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Evans still thinks that Rampage has what it takes to beat Matt “The Hammer” Hamill at the main…
Despite the bad blood that exists between light heavyweight contenders Rashad “Suga” Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Evans still thinks that Rampage has what it takes to beat Matt “The Hammer” Hamill at the main event of UFC 130.
In speaking with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Suga actually said that he is a fan of Hamill’s and would love to see him crack the top 10 among UFC light heavyweights with an upset in Las Vegas.
“But I think Rampage should get it done,” Evans admitted. “If he goes in there with his mind right, I think Rampage will win the fight.”
However, Evans was not ready to count Hamill out of the fight.
“It all depends though. I haven’t heard anything out of his camp, as far as how he’s mentally doing. Rampage is all mind. Sometimes if he goes in there and his mind isn’t right, it’s almost like he throws a tantrum just by not fighting the way he can.”
Both Rampage and Hamill have went on the record saying they expect a high-profile fight after posing a dominant win on Saturday, May 28.
Duff Holmes, Hamill’s trainer and manager, has stated that he thinks The Hammer deserves another crack at Jon Jones with a win against Rampage.
Hamill is the sole fighter to own a professional victory over “Bones,” although he was thoroughly being dominated by the current light heavyweight champion before Jones got disqualified for illegal “12 to 6” elbow strikes.
Holmes rationalized that a rematch would make sense since a documentary about Hamill’s life comes out around October, when Jones is expected to return to action.
The release of Hamill’s movie would only add to the hype of the title fight, Holmes added.
Of course, none of that matters unless Hamill can get past Jackson.
Evans, who beat Jackson via unanimous decision almost exactly one year ago (May 29, 2010), feels that Hamill is capable of beating Rampage the same way, but not without first modifying at least one aspect of his fight game:
“For Hamill to win, he’s going to have to bring his punches back,” Evans said. “One thing Hamill does is he leans on his punches. When he throws the jab, he leans on it. Rampage is very good at the counter punch because he catches whatever you throw and, if you don’t bring it right back, he’s going to hit where you just left that punch.”
Evans, one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the division, feels that Hamill would be making a mistake by keeping the fight standing for long. He isn’t banking on Hamill taking Rampage down at will, either.
“So, if Hamill is leaning on his jab, Rampage is going to catch it, he’s going to roll and he’s going to land the right. Can Hamill take Rampage down? Probably. But Rampage is hard to take down. He’s probably got the strongest hips I’ve felt at 205.”
While Evans gave Hamill plenty of credit, and at least a fighting chance to win, he stuck by his original pick of Rampage in the end.
Last time he (Rampage) was real quiet before a fight was when he fought Wanderlei Silva, and it didn’t turn out well for Wanderlei,” Evans said. “Looks like he might be focused for this one.”
Quinton Jackson made another appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson last night and after watching the episode, it’s clear why “Rampage” gets more invites to appear on late night talk shows than pretty much any other fighter: he’s actually entertaining.
Sure, Chuck Liddell’s guest spot on Good Morning Texas a few years back had its moments and watching Kirstie Alley imagining Jon Jones as a pork chop during The Tonight Show a few months back was funny, if not somewhat cringeworthy, but Jackson always seems to bring his ‘A’ game when the cameras are rolling.
Quinton Jackson made another appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson last night and after watching the episode, it’s clear why “Rampage” gets more invites to appear on late night talk shows than pretty much any other fighter: he’s actually entertaining.
Sure, Chuck Liddell’s guest spot on Good Morning Texas a few years back had its moments and watching Kirstie Alley imagining Jon Jones as a pork chop during The Tonight Show a few months back was funny, if not somewhat cringeworthy, but Jackson always seems to bring his ‘A’ game when the cameras are rolling.
Last night was no exception.
From talking about the challenges of smack talking Matt Hammil ahead of UFC 130 this weekend to working as a bouncer at a Vietnamese bar, Rampage is a natural storyteller with a gift for spinning yarns about even his simplest of experiences.
The UFC should have paid him to teach some of its champions how to do an interview during the Fighter Summit.
