So it was his patella after all.
Or, in layman’s terms, his “knee” (and not the Spanish dish).
The following is Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s explanation on why he slapped Rashad Evans in a nightclub. It comes with a bonus: the other reason why Evans kicked his gluteus maximus last time they fought in the UFC, the first being octagon rust.
“Like Rashad came up to me and told me ‘I fought [Lyoto] Machida the same way he fought me.’ He come tell me stuff like that cuz he sour because I beat Machida and he got knocked the hell out by Machida. And he basically didn’t do anything against Machida, so he trying to get sour about that.
“He knows the only reason he beat me is because I was rusty and I was injured. If you go back and watch that fight he was punching me in my knee, my knee that was hurt. I never seen anybody punch anyone in the knee in MMA in all the years I been doing MMA. But somehow he knew my knee was injured” (MiddleEasy.com, May 9, 2011; italics added).
In case you lost count, he mentioned knee four times.
An ailing knee or any injury may be a valid reason for losing a fight.
The losing fighter, if given the benefit of the doubt, could be publicizing it post-fight simply as a matter of fact.
But he only makes it sound like a sorry excuse.
Leading into the fight, it’s a given that teammates, trainers and physicians must know about any injury or sickness afflicting the fighter, from mild to severe.
But you wouldn’t want your opponent to be in the know and exploit it—unless it’s your tactic to make him overconfident.
It’s a principle in combat sports not to expect your opponent to make your liability his liability.
You can’t make him limit his offensive options by obliging him to spare your injury.
You can’t go like, “Hey, Rashad! My knee’s hurt so don’t hit it while I hit every part of you as the rules allow.” (In fairness to Jackson, he implied that Evans was not supposed to know about it but “somehow he knew.”)
Tell your trainer, teammate, doctors and manager. From there, let the sports media and fans do their sleuthing without making their job easier.
Otherwise, if you think the severity of your injury will greatly disadvantage you and cause you to lose the fight—or worse—then don’t fight at all. And tell the world about it.
A UFC fighter can always text Dana White, “My head was crane-kicked last sparring session and it flew out of the window. I’ll just have myself sewn back together again and fight next time.”
Here’s praying that our UFC 130 main event fighters Quinton Jackson and Matt Hamill will be fighting fit and ready to rumble this May 28.
Especially after the cancellation of the original main event, Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard III, due to injuries.
By the way, has Hamill ever complained about his hearing conditions?
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