For Prideful Rampage, Big Win More Important than UFC 123 Spotlight

Filed under: UFCAUBURN HILLS, Mich. — This isn’t the type of fight that a guy named “Rampage” is supposed to win. Not a guy who’s a part-time fighter, part-time movie star. Lyoto Machida is too controlled, too dedicated, too accurate to beat wild figh…

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — This isn’t the type of fight that a guy named “Rampage” is supposed to win. Not a guy who’s a part-time fighter, part-time movie star. Lyoto Machida is too controlled, too dedicated, too accurate to beat wild fighters. He waits, he makes you commit, and then he picks you apart. And Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is known for being wild.

Adding to the expected trouble, the Hollywood side of Jackson virtually promised fans a show, saying he planned to revert to the action-packed Rampage of old from his PRIDE days in Japan. He painted himself into a corner by railing against boring fighters and walked out to the cage to the old PRIDE theme song to remind himself of his vow until the last possible second.

The wild Rampage came back at UFC 123, but it was a refined wildness, controlled and in control.

Jackson’s split-decision victory over Machida was not the crushing knockout he hoped for, and it couldn’t steal the spotlight back over BJ Penn’s 21-second knockout win, but in a sense it was something better: it was a performance long on maturity.

UFC 123 Video: Rampage Jackson Had Scare Before Lyoto Machida Fight

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Watch below the UFC 123 press conference highlight video, featuring post-fight comments from Rampage Jackson, BJ Penn and the other big winners on the card.

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Watch below the UFC 123 press conference highlight video, featuring post-fight comments from Rampage Jackson, BJ Penn and the other big winners on the card.

Dana White Praises Rampage Jackson, BJ Penn Following UFC 123

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — MMA Fighting spoke to Dana White following Saturday night’s UFC 123 event about Rampage Jackson’s performance, what’s next for the former champion, BJ Penn’s rebound from two straight losses, the Jon Fitch vs. BJ Penn announcement and much more.


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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — MMA Fighting spoke to Dana White following Saturday night’s UFC 123 event about Rampage Jackson’s performance, what’s next for the former champion, BJ Penn’s rebound from two straight losses, the Jon Fitch vs. BJ Penn announcement and much more.


UFC 123: George Sotiropoulos Submits Joe Lauzon

Filed under: UFCGeorge Sotiropoulos showed once again on Saturday night that he’s one of the best ground fighters in the lightweight division in mixed martial arts, submitting Joe Lauzon with a second-round kimura at UFC 123.

“I want to face the best,…

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George Sotiropoulos showed once again on Saturday night that he’s one of the best ground fighters in the lightweight division in mixed martial arts, submitting Joe Lauzon with a second-round kimura at UFC 123.

“I want to face the best, I want to earn what I get, I want to make a case for the belt,” Sotiropoulos said after the win, which improved his record to 14-2. “I’m going to keep making that case.”

Sotiropoulos is making the case that he deserves a lightweight title shot, and he’ll get that shot in 2011 if he keeps winning.

UFC 123 Live Blog: Mark Munoz vs. Aaron Simpson Updates

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — This is the UFC 123 live blog for Mark Munoz vs. Aaron Simpson, a middleweight bout on tonight’s Spike TV portion of the card at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Munoz (8-2)’s three-fight win streak was ended in August when he lost t…

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — This is the UFC 123 live blog for Mark Munoz vs. Aaron Simpson, a middleweight bout on tonight’s Spike TV portion of the card at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Munoz (8-2)’s three-fight win streak was ended in August when he lost to Yushin Okami in a split decision. Simpson (7-1) suffered his first career loss in June in a TKO loss to Chris Leben.

The live blog is below.

UFC 123 Live Results and Commentary (Murder City Edition)

(“So then I said, ‘Hey Tim, Dana told me if you beat Rizzo he might let you back in the UFC.’ Man, you should’ve seen his face. I think the poor fucker believed me.” PicProps: CombatLifestyle)
I went to Detroit once. Durin…


(“So then I said, ‘Hey Tim, Dana told me if you beat Rizzo he might let you back in the UFC.’ Man, you should’ve seen his face. I think the poor fucker believed me.” PicProps: CombatLifestyle)

I went to Detroit once. During the summer of 1998 my band played at a bar called the Old Miami in the city’s Cass Corridor neighborhood. It was the kind of place where Vietnam veterans hung their actual purple hearts on the wall and tacked up fading snapshots of fallen fellow soldiers with the letters “KIA” scrawled above their heads in ballpoint pen. I kept expecting Dennis Hopper to wander in and say something like, “This is a heavy scene, man.” In fact, the whole town was like a living embodiment of every Bruce Springsteen song ever written. It was kind of cool, in an anthropological sort of way. Needless to say, the middle-aged ex-grunts who hung out at that bar didn’t seem to appreciate our particular brand of balls-to-the-wall, angsty hardcore music. Weird, I know.

I imagine not much has changed. In a lot of ways, war-torn old Detroit is the perfect setting  for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to stage a comeback fight. Both are getting on in years and still carry an aura of unpredictable violence despite the fact that their best days are probably behind them. I don’t even know what city Machida is like. Where do they drink the most piss? Santa Barbara? Probably Santa Barbara. Anyway,  we’ll be going live at 10 p.m. Eastern. As always, be sure to hit refresh early and often to keep up with the latest happenings.

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