You probably have more of a life than I do, which means you probably haven’t watched as much mixed martial arts on TV as I have in the last couple days. But if you wanted to, you could have.
On Friday night I had two TVs going in one room, one on HDNet and one on Showtime, as I watched both the Titan Fighting Championships and Strikeforce cards. After a few hours of sleep I got up very early Saturday morning and watched the Dream card on HDNet. On Saturday evening I kept an eye on Bellator on MTV2 while watching the UFC fights on Facebook, on Spike and on pay-per-view.
I watched about three dozen live MMA fights in a span of just over 24 hours from Friday night through Saturday night. As an MMA fan, I was in heaven.
The story everyone is talking about coming out of UFC 135 is Jon Jones‘ impressive title defense over Rampage Jackson, but what this weekend really solidified to me was just how far this sport has come, and how much good MMA there is for the fans to watch. It wasn’t that long ago, before the UFC got on basic cable with The Ultimate Fighter, that getting a chance to watch live MMA was a special occasion for fans. In 2004 — the last year before The Ultimate Fighter — the UFC put on only five fight cards, for the entire year, and all of them were on pay-per-view. Other MMA promotions existed, but few fans ever got to see them live. Now there’s so much MMA on TV that even the hardest of hard-core fans miss some fights. It’s impossible to see it all.
And it’s only getting better. With a UFC heavyweight title fight coming to Fox in November, MMA will really be everywhere. This sport has accomplished so much in so little time that those of us who love it don’t often stop to consider how lucky we are to have so many MMA options available to us. Probably because we’re too busy watching fights.
UFC 135 notes — The UFC 135 main event was a good demonstration of how much this sport has changed: Rampage is one of the great fighters of the last decade, but he’s a fundamentally one-dimensional fighter. Jones is on a completely different level, with far more ways to win a fight. The amazing thing about the way this sport continues to evolve is that some day someone will come along whose fighting style makes Jones look old-fashioned.
— James Te-Huna had never fought outside Australia before Saturday night, as the UFC mostly had him on the roster as a local guy to throw on the undercard in their trips Down Under. But Te-Huna got his first chance to fight in the Octagon on U.S. soil at UFC 135, and he delivered in a big way with a terrific first-round knockout of Ricardo Romero. When Romero went for a low takedown attempt, Te-Huna made him pay for it with a huge low punch that knocked him cold. The whole fight lasted just 47 seconds.
— We haven’t seen a lot of top-notch talent come out of The Ultimate Fighter in the last couple years, but Tony Ferguson, who won Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter, might just be a future star. Ferguson knocked out everyone he faced on The Ultimate Fighter, and he showed off the same lethal striking against Aaron Riley on Saturday night. Ferguson is a force to be reckoned with.
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UFC 135 quotes — “I just want to say thanks to Matt Hughes for taking this fight late in his career. He’s a legend and I’m really proud that I had the opportunity to fight a legend like Matt Hughes.”–Josh Koscheck, after beating Matt Hughes in what may have been the final fight of Hughes’ career. Although Koscheck plays up the role of villain in the UFC, Koscheck’s post-fight comments toward Hughes were pure class.
— “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy this tired in the Octagon before.”–UFC announcer Joe Rogan on Ben Rothwell in the third round of his loss to Mark Hunt. The Denver altitude didn’t help, of course, but Rothwell really looked like he needs to work on his conditioning.
Good call — Greg Jackson, in the corner of Aaron Riley, did exactly the right thing to protect his fighter after the first round, when Tony Ferguson broke Riley’s jaw with an upper cut. Riley went to his corner and said he had a broken jaw, and Jackson immediately told the referee, “It’s over.” That’s what the corner man is supposed to do.
Bad call — Two of the three judges gave Junior Assuncao a 10-8 third round in his victory over Eddie Yagin, as they should have, but I want to know what the judge who only scored it a 10-9 was thinking. Assuncao spent the better part of the round on top of Yagin, pounding away, and provided a textbook example of what should earn a fighter a 10-8 round. Some judges are too hesitant to award 10-8 rounds, and the one who only scored the third 10-9 for Assuncao is one of them.
Stock up — Tim Boetsch is looking great at middleweight. If you look at the fights Boetsch has lost in his career, they were all against big, strong light heavyweights who could overpower him: Boetsch’s four career losses are to Vladimir Matyushenko, Matt Hamill, Jason Brilz and Phil Davis. Now that Boetsch is at middleweight, he’s overpowering people and earning his “Barbarian” nickname. Boetsch easily beat Nick Ring and is now 2-0 as a middleweight. “I’m loving middleweight so far,” Boetsch said afterward.
Stock down — I didn’t like the antics between Assuncao and Yagin at the weigh-ins, when the two of them acted like they wanted to brawl right then and there. And I really didn’t like how tentative both of them looked once they actually got into the Octagon: If you’re going to act like you’re eager for a knock-down, drag-out battle, don’t step into the cage and act like it’s a staring contest. Assuncao won easily, but he did far too much showboating: He raised his hands up, shuffled his feet, danced around and even waved his finger at the crowd while Yagin was attempting a guillotine choke. Assuncao was respectful afterward and said he was just trying to get in his opponent’s head, but the crowd booed Assuncao’s antics, and as far as I’m concerned, the stock of both Assuncao and Yagin is down after that fight.
Fight I want to see next It looks like we’re finally getting close to seeing Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans, the grudge match between the two training partners that’s been talked about for months. Seeing Jones and Evans in the Octagon together after Jones won the UFC 135 main event was a great reminder that for as dominant as Jones has looked, he’s not without legitimate challengers.
You probably have more of a life than I do, which means you probably haven’t watched as much mixed martial arts on TV as I have in the last couple days. But if you wanted to, you could have.
On Friday night I had two TVs going in one room, one on HDNet and one on Showtime, as I watched both the Titan Fighting Championships and Strikeforce cards. After a few hours of sleep I got up very early Saturday morning and watched the Dream card on HDNet. On Saturday evening I kept an eye on Bellator on MTV2 while watching the UFC fights on Facebook, on Spike and on pay-per-view.
I watched about three dozen live MMA fights in a span of just over 24 hours from Friday night through Saturday night. As an MMA fan, I was in heaven.
The story everyone is talking about coming out of UFC 135 is Jon Jones‘ impressive title defense over Rampage Jackson, but what this weekend really solidified to me was just how far this sport has come, and how much good MMA there is for the fans to watch. It wasn’t that long ago, before the UFC got on basic cable with The Ultimate Fighter, that getting a chance to watch live MMA was a special occasion for fans. In 2004 — the last year before The Ultimate Fighter — the UFC put on only five fight cards, for the entire year, and all of them were on pay-per-view. Other MMA promotions existed, but few fans ever got to see them live. Now there’s so much MMA on TV that even the hardest of hard-core fans miss some fights. It’s impossible to see it all.
And it’s only getting better. With a UFC heavyweight title fight coming to Fox in November, MMA will really be everywhere. This sport has accomplished so much in so little time that those of us who love it don’t often stop to consider how lucky we are to have so many MMA options available to us. Probably because we’re too busy watching fights.
UFC 135 notes — The UFC 135 main event was a good demonstration of how much this sport has changed: Rampage is one of the great fighters of the last decade, but he’s a fundamentally one-dimensional fighter. Jones is on a completely different level, with far more ways to win a fight. The amazing thing about the way this sport continues to evolve is that some day someone will come along whose fighting style makes Jones look old-fashioned.
— James Te-Huna had never fought outside Australia before Saturday night, as the UFC mostly had him on the roster as a local guy to throw on the undercard in their trips Down Under. But Te-Huna got his first chance to fight in the Octagon on U.S. soil at UFC 135, and he delivered in a big way with a terrific first-round knockout of Ricardo Romero. When Romero went for a low takedown attempt, Te-Huna made him pay for it with a huge low punch that knocked him cold. The whole fight lasted just 47 seconds.
— We haven’t seen a lot of top-notch talent come out of The Ultimate Fighter in the last couple years, but Tony Ferguson, who won Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter, might just be a future star. Ferguson knocked out everyone he faced on The Ultimate Fighter, and he showed off the same lethal striking against Aaron Riley on Saturday night. Ferguson is a force to be reckoned with.
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UFC 135 quotes — “I just want to say thanks to Matt Hughes for taking this fight late in his career. He’s a legend and I’m really proud that I had the opportunity to fight a legend like Matt Hughes.”–Josh Koscheck, after beating Matt Hughes in what may have been the final fight of Hughes’ career. Although Koscheck plays up the role of villain in the UFC, Koscheck’s post-fight comments toward Hughes were pure class.
— “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy this tired in the Octagon before.”–UFC announcer Joe Rogan on Ben Rothwell in the third round of his loss to Mark Hunt. The Denver altitude didn’t help, of course, but Rothwell really looked like he needs to work on his conditioning.
Good call — Greg Jackson, in the corner of Aaron Riley, did exactly the right thing to protect his fighter after the first round, when Tony Ferguson broke Riley’s jaw with an upper cut. Riley went to his corner and said he had a broken jaw, and Jackson immediately told the referee, “It’s over.” That’s what the corner man is supposed to do.
Bad call — Two of the three judges gave Junior Assuncao a 10-8 third round in his victory over Eddie Yagin, as they should have, but I want to know what the judge who only scored it a 10-9 was thinking. Assuncao spent the better part of the round on top of Yagin, pounding away, and provided a textbook example of what should earn a fighter a 10-8 round. Some judges are too hesitant to award 10-8 rounds, and the one who only scored the third 10-9 for Assuncao is one of them.
Stock up — Tim Boetsch is looking great at middleweight. If you look at the fights Boetsch has lost in his career, they were all against big, strong light heavyweights who could overpower him: Boetsch’s four career losses are to Vladimir Matyushenko, Matt Hamill, Jason Brilz and Phil Davis. Now that Boetsch is at middleweight, he’s overpowering people and earning his “Barbarian” nickname. Boetsch easily beat Nick Ring and is now 2-0 as a middleweight. “I’m loving middleweight so far,” Boetsch said afterward.
Stock down — I didn’t like the antics between Assuncao and Yagin at the weigh-ins, when the two of them acted like they wanted to brawl right then and there. And I really didn’t like how tentative both of them looked once they actually got into the Octagon: If you’re going to act like you’re eager for a knock-down, drag-out battle, don’t step into the cage and act like it’s a staring contest. Assuncao won easily, but he did far too much showboating: He raised his hands up, shuffled his feet, danced around and even waved his finger at the crowd while Yagin was attempting a guillotine choke. Assuncao was respectful afterward and said he was just trying to get in his opponent’s head, but the crowd booed Assuncao’s antics, and as far as I’m concerned, the stock of both Assuncao and Yagin is down after that fight.
Fight I want to see next It looks like we’re finally getting close to seeing Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans, the grudge match between the two training partners that’s been talked about for months. Seeing Jones and Evans in the Octagon together after Jones won the UFC 135 main event was a great reminder that for as dominant as Jones has looked, he’s not without legitimate challengers.
The interview you see here with the UFC’s Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and reporter Karyn Bryant from MMAHeat.com is an embarrassing exchange between a professional athlete and a credentialed member of the media — exact…
The interview you see here with the UFC’s Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and reporter Karyn Bryant from MMAHeat.com is an embarrassing exchange between a professional athlete and a credentialed member of the media — exactly the kind of thing the UFC needs to avoid if it wants to be taken seriously as a mainstream sport.
The interview starts with Bryant asking Jackson about his UFC 130 victory over Matt Hamill. And then it turns into something very different than the typical post-fight interview — and very different from anything even approaching an appropriate exchange between a journalist and a subject.
Here’s the transcript of the key portion:
Jackson: “I be loving me some black women. Are you black?”
Bryant: “Part, yeah.”
Jackson: “I love all parts of you, even the black part. What other part are you?”
Bryant: “I’m Jamaican, black and white.”
Jackson: “She’s Jamaican me horny.”
Bryant: (laughs) “I know you got to get to your party. Thank you, congratulations.”
Jackson: “She’s hot. That’s why I gave her the interview — she’s hot.”
Bryant: “Thank you, Rampage.”
Jackson: “I want to motorboat. On camera.”
With that, Jackson proceeded to stick his face in Bryant’s cleavage and pretend to “motorboat” her. To call that crossing the line would be incorrect: This behavior is so far beyond the line that Jackson wouldn’t have been able to see the line.
Bryant wrote on Twitter that she thought the incident was funny, but Bryant being OK with her encounter with Jackson doesn’t make it acceptable. Jackson and Bryant are two people in their workplaces. At your office, would it be OK if two people behaved the way Jackson and Bryant did in this interview?
Actions like this contribute to an atmosphere that can make other reporters feel uncomfortable, and it’s particularly troubling that Jackson would say, “That’s why I gave her the interview — she’s hot,” suggesting that female reporters who are credentialed to UFC events will be granted access based on whether UFC fighters find them attractive.
Behavior like this should not be tolerated. When some players on the New York Jets made suggestive comments toward a female reporter last year — and none of those comments came close to what Jackson does in this video — the NFL was quick to act, mandating league-wide training in appropriate workplace conduct. The UFC should give similar training to its fighters.
Jackson is one of the most interesting personalities in MMA. He can be funny, gregarious, charismatic and charming. But he can also be a jerk. This interview was an example of the latter, even if it made the interviewer laugh.
Filed under: UFCPerhaps the best thing we can say about UFC 130 is that it’s over. It started out as the event that would finally put the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard saga to rest, and it ended up with “Rampage” Jackson in a main event bout that even he …
Perhaps the best thing we can say about UFC 130 is that it’s over. It started out as the event that would finally put the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard saga to rest, and it ended up with “Rampage” Jackson in a main event bout that even he wasn’t terribly excited about.
But now that the dust has settled and the Octagon has been packed away one more time, let’s look back over Saturday night’s action to see whose stock soared and whose plummeted into the basement of the MGM Grand.
In the wake of UFC 130, here are your biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.
Biggest Winner: Brian Stann
Sure, it makes for a great storyline to see the former Marine beat somebody up on Memorial Day weekend, but forget that for a minute. Stann took on the Sengoku middleweight champ in a fight that was supposed to be a serious test of his skills, and he practically breezed through it with the perfect mix of poise and aggression. He didn’t lose his cool when he had Santiago hurt early. He didn’t lay back too much and let good opportunities slip by. He did exactly what he needed to do, and he got perhaps the biggest win of his career. He also pocketed a Fight of the Night bonus, which is a nice way of reminding everyone that you were one of the few bright spots on an otherwise forgettable fight card. Plus, $70,000 buys a lot of hot dogs and apple pie.
Biggest Loser: Roy Nelson
There’s no questioning his toughness or his ability to take a shot. But his cardio? That’s a different story. You never want to end a round by immediately doubling over and putting your hands on your knees like an out-of-shape businessman who was forced to take the stairs for the first time in ten years. Let’s just say it sends the wrong message. Nelson got overpowered and outworked by Frank Mir, but the worst part is that by the end he just seemed grateful to get out of there and go home. We’ve seen him go the distance before without looking like he needed to have a defibrillator handy in his corner, so I’m not sure what accounts for this poor showing. Whatever it is, he’d better figure it out quick. The UFC seems less inclined to give Nelson the benefit of the doubt that it has extended to others.
Least Compelling Case for a Title Shot: “Rampage” Jackson
The hard part about fighting a guy who the current champ already demolished is that it provides an unavoidable counter-example that your performance will be measured against. Everyone will recall that Jon Jones straight-up assaulted Hamill, while Jackson carried him the distance. Not that the fight was close, mind you. Jackson stuffed all Hamill’s takedowns and put some leather on his face whenever he felt like it. Trouble is, he didn’t feel like it quite enough down the stretch. He’d explode with a combo, wait to see if Hamill was still standing, then catch his breath before trying it again. It’s a competent showing, sure, but not the kind that screams out for a shot at the belt. Jackson is undoubtedly one of the best light heavyweights around, but that means people are going to expect more out of him than what he showed on Saturday night. Whether he has any interest in giving it to them remains to be seen.
Most Impressive in Defeat: Miguel Torres
If nothing else, Torres proved once and for all that you just can’t win a decision off your back in MMA. If it was at all possible, he would have done it on Saturday night with his many, varied attempts at a finish against an opponent who was content to hold on and maintain top position. You could argue that a takedown is an effective way of controlling the fight and dictating the action, so Demetrious Johnson won it fair and square – and you’d probably be right. At the same time, it was Torres doing most of the work to actually end the fight and/or make something interesting happen. It didn’t get him the victory, but it does get him a tip of the cap, for whatever that’s worth.
Least Impressive in Victory: Frank Mir
We know “Big Country” is tough to put away. The Junior dos Santos fight proved that much. But it never looks good when you have an opponent who is almost too exhausted to stand and you let him hang around for the full three rounds with his tongue practically hanging out of his mouth. At times it seems like Mir takes an unfair amount of criticism, particularly from Dana White. But then you stop and ask yourself, even after two straight wins over two name heavyweights, would I really want to see Mir anywhere near a title fight? Not unless he bought a ticket.
Most Surprising: Rick Story
With a decision win over Thiago Alves in the UFC, Story joins a very exclusive club with some strict membership requirements. He did it with a game plan that played brilliantly to his own strengths while taking Alves’ mostly out of the equation, and he also proved that he can take a punch (or a knee) and keep right on coming. Alves is by far the best fighter Story has ever beaten, and he did it in a fight that really wasn’t even close on the scorecards. That’s six in a row for the young welterweight. He keeps this up, and things will get serious in his career very quickly.
Most Memorable: Travis Browne‘s KO
Whenever the 6’11” Struve gets knocked out it always makes for instant highlight reel material. Like a building being imploded, his collapse to the mat looks so awkward and takes so long that it makes a lasting impression on everyone who sees it. That’s bad news for Struve, but great news for Browne, who put himself on the map with a perfectly timed Superman punch. Even if he never does anything else with his MMA career, that knockout will live on in highlight packages for years. It should also instantly erase the bitter memory of Browne’s unimpressive draw with Cheick Kongo at UFC 120. Nothing like a crushing knockout to resurrect your reputation. Now let’s see what he can do with it.
Least Likely to Remain Employed: Kendall Grove
The decision loss to Boetsch marked his third defeat in four attempts. What’s worse, he was never really in the fight. It was takedown, top control, scramble to the feet, then rinse and repeat all night long. By the third round, everyone knew what Boetsch was going to do, yet Grove couldn’t even come close to stopping it. It made for a pretty boring fight, which didn’t do Boetsch any favors, but the only thing worse than winning a fight in that fashion is losing one the same way. Grove is now 7-6 in his UFC career. Most of the fighters he beat recently were later cut from the UFC, which tells you something. He’s been hovering over the chopping block for a while now. My guess is the ax is about to come down.
Filed under: UFCA few months ago, when UFC 130 was first scheduled, it looked like a hell of a fight card: Frankie Edgar would take on Gray Maynard in the rematch of their epic lightweight title fight, and Rampage Jackson would take on Thiago Silva in …
A few months ago, when UFC 130 was first scheduled, it looked like a hell of a fight card: Frankie Edgar would take on Gray Maynard in the rematch of their epic lightweight title fight, and Rampage Jackson would take on Thiago Silva in what promised to be a thrilling, hard-hitting co-main event.
What we actually got at UFC 130 was a lot different: Edgar and Maynard both dropped out of the event with injuries, Silva got busted for cheating on a drug test, and we were left with Rampage vs. Matt Hamill as a main event.
What else can be said but that the main event turned into a dud?
Rampage vs. Hamill looked like a bad fight on paper, and it turned out to be a bad fight in the Octagon: Hamill is a swell guy whom UFC fans will always like and respect, but he’s just not in the same class as Rampage. It was a one-sided beatdown from start to finish, and a disappointing main event. The first Edgar vs. Maynard fight was the UFC’s best main event so far this year. Rampage vs. Hamill was the worst.
And as bad as losing the Edgar-Maynard fight was, losing Silva from what had been scheduled as a co-main event fight with Rampage was big, too. A Silva-Rampage fight would have been guaranteed fireworks. It’s not just that Hamill isn’t as good as Silva, it’s also that he has a very different fighting style than Silva, and a Rampage-Hamill fight is just not as compelling as Rampage-Silva would have been.
And, of course, when you lose a main event, all the other fights have to move up a spot on the card. So when Rampage-Silva as the co-main turned into Rampage-Hamill as the main event, that bumped Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson into the co-main event spot. So while Edgar-Maynard and Rampage-Silva would have been awesome main and co-main events, what fans got instead were lousy main and co-main events, Rampage-Hamill and Mir-Nelson.
The first three fights on the pay-per-view card were all entertaining, so it’s not like the fans who bought the pay-per-view didn’t get any value for their money. But they didn’t get the value they were hoping for. This was a fight card that once looked great, and instead turned into a disappointment.
Notes from UFC 130
— According to CompuStrike, Tim Boetsch was successful on nine of 11 takedown attempts against Kendall Grove. Boetsch has always had good striking power, and if he’s able to be that effective with takendowns now that he has moved down from light heavyweight to middleweight, he’s going to be a force at 185 pounds.
— Stefan Struve is 5-3 in his UFC career, and at just 23 years old, he has a lot of promise. But I have to say, I’m worried about his future if he doesn’t get better at striking defense. All three of his UFC losses have been by first-round knockout: To Junior Dos Santos, to Roy Nelson and now, on Saturday, to Travis Browne.
— The UFC has started showing fighters’ Twitter handles under their names on its on-screen graphics. At a time when other major sports leagues are terrified that athletes will use social media to say something embarrassing, this was yet another indication that the UFC is way ahead of the pack on that front.
Quotes from UFC 130
“You just moved up the ladder here tonight, kid. It’s a big, big victory for you. From here on it’s nothing but top contenders.” — Joe Rogan to Rick Story. He’s right. Story has a big future ahead of him in the welterweight division.
“How many times did I hit him in the face? What’s up with that guy’s chin?” — Frank Mir after battering Roy Nelson for 15 minutes. In Nelson’s last two fights he has been in the cage for six rounds with Mir and Junior dos Santos, and although he was beaten badly both times, he certainly does have a great chin, as neither man was able to knock Nelson out.
Good call
“This seems to be the difference between a real, true, legitimate heavyweight and a guy who’s fighting at heavyweight because he likes food.” — Rogan on Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson. Rogan was right: Nelson won’t be a great fighter until he’s willing to take his diet and conditioning seriously, as a professional athlete should.
Bad call
When Jackson and Hamill backed away from each other with about 90 seconds to go in the main event, Mike Goldberg said, “A little respect from both men,” as if they were backing away because they like each other. In reality, they were backing away because they were fatigued, and the fans were justified in their booing.
Stock up
Herb Dean showed once again that he’s the best referee in the business because he thinks of everything. When the timekeeper gave the 10-second warning at the end of the rounds of the main event, Dean held up 10 fingers to show the deaf Hamill that there were 10 seconds left. Contrast Dean’s work with the athletic commission official who interrupted Hamill’s corner after the first round of the fight and didn’t seem to realize that Hamill is deaf and needed a sign language interpreter.
Stock Down
Thiago Alves is never going to compete at a high level again if he doesn’t figure out how to stop a takedown. His loss to Story was the third time in Alves’s last four fights that a superior wrestler has been able to control him and win a decision, and as great a striker as Alves is, it’s clear that other fighters realize that there’s a giant hole in Alves’s game.
Final thought
Given the light heavyweight landscape right now and the timing of Jon Jones’ return from a hand injury, Rampage Jackson is probably the best choice available to get the next light heavyweight title shot, if Rampage himself is healthy. But as dominant as Jackson was against Hamill, he didn’t do anything to indicate he’d have much of a chance of getting the light heavyweight belt back. Rampage can sleepwalk his way through a victory against an opponent like Hamill, but he’d need to fight at a much higher level to have a prayer against Jones.
LAS VEGAS – Matt Hamill said he planned on breaking the will of Rampage Jackson in their main event at UFC 130 on Saturday. But when Hamill took a knee after the final horn, Jackson had turned the table.
Jackson warded off all of Hamill’s takedown attempts – despite coming into the fight with a fractured hand, he revealed at the post-fight press conference – and cruised to a unanimous decision victory. The win is likely to put Jackson in line as the top contender for Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title later this fall, provided his hand heals on pace.
But the boo birds were out several times during the night, including most notably the main and co-main events. With just three finishes going into the co-main and main, the fans appeared to want some excitement – and many seemed certain they didn’t get it in the last two bouts.After the fight, Jackson said he was disappointed he wasn’t able to score a knockout, which the fans seemed to want even more than he, but said he wasn’t about to blame it on his hand injury – which he said came from a drunken mishap with a friend in Japan.
“I was OK with my performance, (but) I wanted to do a little more,” Jackson said. “I knew I could stay on my feet. He had a great game plan, and I could tell he was setting me up to take me down. He had some great low leg kicks, and it made me not do what I wanted to do. I’m a little bit disappointed. I wanted a knockout. Matt’s never been knocked out before, and I took it as a personal challenge.”
Jackson said he fractured his hand last December in Japan, “drunken fooling around fighting my friend in the hallway.” And during training, he said he aggravated the injury. But he said even without the fracture, he doesn’t believe he would have been able to knock Hamill out.
“That guy’s got a hard head,” Jackson said. “I think Matt’s got a long future in this sport. I take nothing away from Matt – fractured hand or not, I still wouldn’t have knocked him out tonight. I think I needed a hammer. That guy can take a punch. I hit him with everything but the toilet.”
Hamill, who saw his five-fight winning streak snapped, said he thought he would be able to use his wrestling to take Jackson down. Hamill was a three-time Division III national champion wrestler.
“I was very surprised,” Hamill said. “My takedowns could have been better, but it was a good fight. I’ll probably feel it tomorrow. I wasn’t really happy with my performance. I’ll go back and try to learn from my mistakes. I gave 100 percent, and did all I could. But Rampage is a pretty good fighter.”
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In the co-main, heavyweights Frank Mir and Roy Nelson put on an exciting first round before Nelson gassed in the second, with Mir not far behind. Mir dominated his fellow Las Vegas resident en route to a unanimous decision. And though he landed quite a few big shots, including knees to Nelson’s head, the fight often stalled out, eliciting stronger boos from the crowd as it went deeper.
The Jackson-Hamill fight also heard a few boos, especially as Hamill’s takedown attempts appeared to get slower and his striking attempts as he tired late in the fight were light.
But UFC president Dana White said after the post-fight press conference he didn’t have any problems with the card in general – though he maintained he continues to be unhappy with Mir’s performances.
“Was I thrilled with the main event and co-main? No,” White said. “But everything can’t be a knockout or submission. I think considering the time off Rampage has had, he looked good. He dominated, he gassed – but that’s all part of staying active and busy. I think people’s expectations are unreasonable sometimes. Guys will be fighting a great fight and you’ll hear people booing – it’s like they expect guys to get in a football stance and run across at each other. There’s skill, technique, game plans – there’s a lot of things involved.”
If White was disappointed in the two main fights, his spirits were likely lifted by the performance by Brian Stann in the pay-per-view’s opening bout. Stann delivered a TKO against Top 10 middleweight Jorge Santiago, getting the night’s loudest ovation on an emotional Memorial Day weekend for the military hero, a Silver Star winner.
“He’s on his way to becoming a superstar,” White said of Stann. “Chuck (Liddell) said, ‘When (Stann) fought in the WEC, I never thought he’d get to this level.’ But not only are his skills getting better, everything that comes out of his mouth is a home run. This guy’s going to be a superstar.”
UFC 130 was not without injuries, some of them perhaps significant in the scheme of future matchups – most importantly, Jackson’s fractured hand. Stann was at the post-fight press conference with a broken right thumb. White said Mir went to the hospital with a fractured jaw and rib, though Mir’s wife said on Twitter early Sunday morning Mir’s jaw was not broken but had complained about his bite after the fight. And Stefan Struve, Santiago, Michael McDonald and Rafaello Oliveira hospital all went to the hospital after their fights.
UFC 130 had a reported attendance of 12,816 fans for a $2.57 million gate. Last year’s Memorial Day weekend card, also at the MGM Grand, drew 14,996 fans with a $3.895 million gate and more than 1 million pay-per-view buys. That main event featured a grudge match between Jackson and Rashad Evans. The original main event of UFC 130 was to be a trilogy lightweight title rematch between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, who fought to a draw at UFC 125. But both fighters were injured in training earlier this month and the fight was scratched.
LAS VEGAS – Matt Hamill said he planned on breaking the will of Rampage Jackson in their main event at UFC 130 on Saturday. But when Hamill took a knee after the final horn, Jackson had turned the table.
Jackson warded off all of Hamill’s takedown attempts – despite coming into the fight with a fractured hand, he revealed at the post-fight press conference – and cruised to a unanimous decision victory. The win is likely to put Jackson in line as the top contender for Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title later this fall, provided his hand heals on pace.
But the boo birds were out several times during the night, including most notably the main and co-main events. With just three finishes going into the co-main and main, the fans appeared to want some excitement – and many seemed certain they didn’t get it in the last two bouts.After the fight, Jackson said he was disappointed he wasn’t able to score a knockout, which the fans seemed to want even more than he, but said he wasn’t about to blame it on his hand injury – which he said came from a drunken mishap with a friend in Japan.
“I was OK with my performance, (but) I wanted to do a little more,” Jackson said. “I knew I could stay on my feet. He had a great game plan, and I could tell he was setting me up to take me down. He had some great low leg kicks, and it made me not do what I wanted to do. I’m a little bit disappointed. I wanted a knockout. Matt’s never been knocked out before, and I took it as a personal challenge.”
Jackson said he fractured his hand last December in Japan, “drunken fooling around fighting my friend in the hallway.” And during training, he said he aggravated the injury. But he said even without the fracture, he doesn’t believe he would have been able to knock Hamill out.
“That guy’s got a hard head,” Jackson said. “I think Matt’s got a long future in this sport. I take nothing away from Matt – fractured hand or not, I still wouldn’t have knocked him out tonight. I think I needed a hammer. That guy can take a punch. I hit him with everything but the toilet.”
Hamill, who saw his five-fight winning streak snapped, said he thought he would be able to use his wrestling to take Jackson down. Hamill was a three-time Division III national champion wrestler.
“I was very surprised,” Hamill said. “My takedowns could have been better, but it was a good fight. I’ll probably feel it tomorrow. I wasn’t really happy with my performance. I’ll go back and try to learn from my mistakes. I gave 100 percent, and did all I could. But Rampage is a pretty good fighter.”
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In the co-main, heavyweights Frank Mir and Roy Nelson put on an exciting first round before Nelson gassed in the second, with Mir not far behind. Mir dominated his fellow Las Vegas resident en route to a unanimous decision. And though he landed quite a few big shots, including knees to Nelson’s head, the fight often stalled out, eliciting stronger boos from the crowd as it went deeper.
The Jackson-Hamill fight also heard a few boos, especially as Hamill’s takedown attempts appeared to get slower and his striking attempts as he tired late in the fight were light.
But UFC president Dana White said after the post-fight press conference he didn’t have any problems with the card in general – though he maintained he continues to be unhappy with Mir’s performances.
“Was I thrilled with the main event and co-main? No,” White said. “But everything can’t be a knockout or submission. I think considering the time off Rampage has had, he looked good. He dominated, he gassed – but that’s all part of staying active and busy. I think people’s expectations are unreasonable sometimes. Guys will be fighting a great fight and you’ll hear people booing – it’s like they expect guys to get in a football stance and run across at each other. There’s skill, technique, game plans – there’s a lot of things involved.”
If White was disappointed in the two main fights, his spirits were likely lifted by the performance by Brian Stann in the pay-per-view’s opening bout. Stann delivered a TKO against Top 10 middleweight Jorge Santiago, getting the night’s loudest ovation on an emotional Memorial Day weekend for the military hero, a Silver Star winner.
“He’s on his way to becoming a superstar,” White said of Stann. “Chuck (Liddell) said, ‘When (Stann) fought in the WEC, I never thought he’d get to this level.’ But not only are his skills getting better, everything that comes out of his mouth is a home run. This guy’s going to be a superstar.”
UFC 130 was not without injuries, some of them perhaps significant in the scheme of future matchups – most importantly, Jackson’s fractured hand. Stann was at the post-fight press conference with a broken right thumb. White said Mir went to the hospital with a fractured jaw and rib, though Mir’s wife said on Twitter early Sunday morning Mir’s jaw was not broken but had complained about his bite after the fight. And Stefan Struve, Santiago, Michael McDonald and Rafaello Oliveira hospital all went to the hospital after their fights.
UFC 130 had a reported attendance of 12,816 fans for a $2.57 million gate. Last year’s Memorial Day weekend card, also at the MGM Grand, drew 14,996 fans with a $3.895 million gate and more than 1 million pay-per-view buys. That main event featured a grudge match between Jackson and Rashad Evans. The original main event of UFC 130 was to be a trilogy lightweight title rematch between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, who fought to a draw at UFC 125. But both fighters were injured in training earlier this month and the fight was scratched.
Filed under: UFCQuinton “Rampage” Jackson was a heavy favorite to beat Matt Hamill at UFC 130, and with good reason: As Jackson showed for 15 minutes in the Octagon with Hamill on Saturday night, he was simply the much better fighter, easily winning a …
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was a heavy favorite to beat Matt Hamill at UFC 130, and with good reason: As Jackson showed for 15 minutes in the Octagon with Hamill on Saturday night, he was simply the much better fighter, easily winning a unanimous decision.
The fight wasn’t particularly entertaining, and the fans in Las Vegas booed at the end. Jackson said afterward that he had a fractured hand and wasn’t able to fight the way he wanted to.
“Matt Hamill is tough, man. I tried to knock him out,” Jackson said. “I apologize I wasn’t able to put on the kind of fight I wanted to.”
In the early going Hamill tried to use kicks to his advantage, cognizant of the way Jackson’s stance leaves his lead leg exposed. But Jackson was able to check most of Hamill’s kicks, and punish him with punches when he would come to the inside. Hamill, who was an excellent college wrestler, tried to get close enough to take Jackson down, but he never succeeded and usually ate a couple of hard punches from Jackson when he tried. By the end of the first round, blood was dribbling out of Hamill’s mouth, and Jackson clearly was ahead in the fight.
In the second round the fans began to boo as the fight became predictable: Hamill would try to go low for a takedown, and Jackson would make him pay again with a knee and more punches. The fight started to get dull not because there wasn’t action, but because the action was so repetitive, with Jackson showing that he was the vastly superior fighter and Hamill doing nothing about it.
That was on display to an even greater extent in the third round, as Jackson dominated, Hamill did nothing, and the crowd booed. Jackson controlled the fight and certainly deserved to win the decision, but it wasn’t the great performance the UFC was surely looking for from Jackson, who may fight Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title next. This was an OK performance, but not what fans expect from a champion.
You probably have more of a life than I do, which means you probably haven’t watched as much mixed martial arts on TV as I have in the last couple days. But if you wanted to, you could have.
Perhaps the best thing we can say about 
A few months ago, when 
LAS VEGAS – 