The Juggernaut MMA News Report 09.23.09: Say It Ain't So, Rampage

Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 09.23.2009

The Juggernaut wonders why Rampage is calling it quits and insists Vitor Belfort must fight Anderson Silva to determine the best Brazilian middleweight. What's next for Rich Franklin and Cro Cop after disappointing defeats at UFC 103? Plus, a look back at a fun Fight Night special, Fedor vs. America and Frank Trigg lives to fight again. Read on to get caught up and ready for The Ultimate Fighter, plus Chuck Liddell dances the fox trot. All that and more.




The breaking news in MMA came straight from Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's own website last night. In a blog post, he expressed his disappointment in the UFC and Dana White for a variety of things over the past year. It sounds like Rampage finally boiled over and here comes this news that he is no longer fighting and considers himself a full-time actor from hereon out.

As of this writing (early Wednesday morning on the east coast), the UFC nor Dana White specifically have issued a public statement of any kind in response. Whenever Dana does get a camera or microphone in front of him, this will be plenty interesting.

Jackson wrote about times when the UFC did not care much about his injuries and pushed him to fight when they needed him to (this past March). He said he was lied to when he was told he could fight Lyoto Machida after appearing on The Ultimate Fighter (the season that is airing now) but at some point something changed and they changed it so Rampage would fight Rashad Evans after the conclusion of the season. Finally, he wrote about the "A-Team" film that means a lot to him personally and the insistence on Dana White's part to talk publicly about the project and knock Rampage for doing it.

Rampage insists he has no ill will with the UFC or Dana White and this is just him thinking about his future. From his blog, I take it he is no longer willing to risk injuries when he can (at least he thinks he can) act in film or television and earn as much if not more, and stay healthy.

I cannot criticize Jackson for doing this, if he does indeed retire (personally, I doubt he sticks to his guns here) because every person is different. If you make your living by taking punishment and putting your body at risk on a routine basis, and you have the opportunity to earn a good living without the possibility of harming yourself, you have to give some serious thought about your future.

However, from a fight perspective, this messes things up. This is assuming Rampage does retire and won't return to the UFC after filming the movie next year. Now they have TUF 10 airing on Spike promoting a fight that may never happen.


Dana White is not the type of person to let things go. I guarantee you as soon as he got wind of this, he got on the phone with Jackson. Hell, maybe he even hopped on a jet and flew to wherever the film is shooting right now.

As a promoter, money is the bottom line. In a Rampage/Rashad main event, there is the potential for between 600,000 and over a million PPV buys. It's not too often the UFC can roll out big time main events featuring a grudge that has been built over television on a weekly basis, seen by millions of people.

If Rampage does retire (I can't see him pulling a Barry Sanders here), then the best of luck to the man. If not, great. I doubt, at the end of the day, he never fights again in the UFC. There's too much money there for him not to fight, assuming he won't be an actor that every big casting agent MUST HAVE in their film.

Buckle your seat belts because this may be a bumpy ride.



UFC 103's In the Books, Middleweight Megafight on the Horizon?


Vitor's Coming For The Spider

The Phenom is back in the UFC and has already taken a name. Vitor Belfort was not the wild James Thompson bull running madman that the UFC portrayed in the hype for this fight. He was as calm as can be and let Rich Franklin make the first move. As it stands, Belfort is just a powerful puncher who knocked Rich Franklin out in minutes. Live, it did not look like such a menacing blow that knocked Franklin to the ground. On second thought, even if the punch grazed Franklin, it must have packed quite the explosiveness. Belfort finished him on the ground to win his 8th UFC fight and improved his overall record to 19-8.



Now it is clear the UFC is moving towards booking Vitor Belfort as Anderson Silva's next challenger for his middleweight championship. Despite the fact they are friends, when asked by Joe Rogan after the fight, Belfort said he would fight whomever the UFC tells him to. I'm sure that was music to Dana White and Joe Silva's ears. Just thinking of the match-up between Belfort and Silva, there would be some awe inspiring strike exchanges in that one. It's difficult to pick against Anderson Silva because he looks unstoppable but I would imagine a good amount of betting money would be placed on less of an underdog than any of Silva's recent opponents (since Dan Henderson).

As for Rich Franklin, this is an upsetting defeat (duh!). Hopefully he can permanently fight as a light heavyweight and avoid the catch weight bouts. People may criticize him because his latest wins have come against Wanderlei Silva, Matt Hamill and Travis Lutter, but he is still as talented a fighter as there is. The loss means he will not be in title contention in the light heavyweight division, frankly I'd imagine him in the same position as a Tito Ortiz or Forrest Griffin. Coming off losses, they need several wins before they can be put back into title contention. I am wondering whether potential opponents include Jon Jones (if he beats Matt Hamill in December) or Keith Jardine or Thiago Silva.



In the co-main event, we saw the end of Mirko Cro Cop as a potential serious championship contender. Junior Dos Santos looked more powerful, quicker and dangerous. Despite the unusual ending, all three judges scored the first two rounds for Dos Santos, meaning Cro Cop needed to finish the fight or else he was losing anyway. Cro Cop is still dangerous, don't get me wrong, but do you think he can beat the top of the heavyweight division? Actually, Cro Cop vs. Cain Velasquez intrigues me personally but I doubt we will ever see it (unless Velasquez loses in the near future). There were times in the fight, it looked like Cro Cop was about to win. Those attempts to kick Dos Santos' head off early in the fight had me gasping as if it were 2005. I guess if nothing else, this proves Dos Santos is no joke. The man has a chin that took a beating and he never quit. Despite the fact the fight never went to the ground, we are led to believe Dos Santos has a dangerous ground game because of his training with the Brothers Nogueira.


How many people thought this was the end?

Whatever happens in November when Randy Couture fights Brandon Vera, I wonder if we will ever see the fight that Gabriel Gonzaga kicked away. It may not have the same title implications it may have had in the past, but it would be a sight to see for sure. However, listening to Cro Cop talk about doubting himself, it's very likely his active fighting career is over. I assume it hits an accomplished professional athlete hard when they can no longer compete with the best anymore.

With Dos Santos, he joins the likes of Velasquez, Shane Carwin, Ben Rothwell, Frank Mir, Cheick Kongo and others as contenders in the UFC heavyweight division. With the way the UFC promoted Cro Cop as a legendary figure in the history of MMA, I would not be surprised if Dos Santos received a title shot after one more win.


Simply put, Dos Santos punished Cro Cop



Paul Daley made me look like a genius as I was the only staff member to pick him (albeit, a bit reluctantly) to win this fight. He defeated Martin Kampmann by referee stoppage, and it was a good stoppage. Daley rocked Kampmann with strikes and Kampmann took a pounding before the ref stopped it. This is a huge victory for Daley who lands in the UFC with an upset win over a top welterweight contender. I bet this makes Jake Shields look like gold, after he quickly submitted Daley when they fought at an EXC show in the past.

Martin Kampmann was supposed to fight Mike Swick at UFC 103 with the winner getting the next title shot at Georges St. Pierre. Once Swick was injured in training and Daley took the fight on short notice, that stipulation went out the window. Now, Kampmann may join the likes of Karo Parisyan, Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez as once top contenders who lost out on title shots due to a variety of factors.





Josh Koscheck did not need his wrestling background to defeat Frank Trigg. He simply punched Trigg until the ref stopped it. Koscheck is one of the best in the UFC's welterweight class so it is not a case where Trigg returned to fight lesser talent. It does appear his dream of wearing championship gold in the UFC is dead, but stranger things have happened. For Koscheck, this is a good win. Good mostly because he's healthy and can get back into the cage ASAP for another fight.

After his win, Koscheck challenged Matt Hughes. I guess he's planning to bury the men who once ran the division years ago. Matt Hughes and Koscheck would be an interesting fight although I'd see it going similar to this fight. Hughes is a fine striker but his chin cannot be as strong as it once was. Koscheck would test it and I think win handily over the future hall of famer.



How about that Tyson Griffin, he knocked out Hermes Franca. Big Hermes Franca, at that. Franca made almost no effort to take the fight to the ground, instead when not trying to defend Griffin's attacks, trying to throw wild punches. After failing to make weight and ultimately having Griffin agree to allow Franca to show up a few pounds overweight, Griffin took him to the second round before knocking him senseless.

Griffin is still one of the top contenders in the stacked lightweight division, much like Gray Maynard is (who also won this week). I feel Griffin is lower on the totem pole and is further from title contention than Maynard. Perhaps the UFC will look to give Nate Diaz a try at another wrestler and book him against Griffin on a 2010 PPV. A fight I'd love to see would pit Griffin against the winner of the Kenny Florian/Clay Guida fight later this year. I guess too many solid contenders is a nicer problem than few contenders for the welterweights.



Thanks to UFC.com for the UFC 103 Photos

---

ACTION FIGHT NIGHT

Nate Quarry and Tim Credeur took part in a terrific television opener for Fight Night 19. To my surprise, Quarry looked slower when each stood for the majority of the first round. Credeur's combination's looked crisp and damaging as Quarry was rocked. Momentum changed in the second round when while eating punches on the feet, Quarry landed a quick right and landed another which sent Credeur to the mat. The rest of the round was spent with Quarry trying to finish with his ground and pound and Credeur defending well, not taking any major punishment. The third round was nearly identical with Credeur landing big shots but he ate a big right from Quarry which sent the fight to the mat. When they returned to their feet, both were clearly gassed as Credeur's hands were by his waist and Quarry barely moved. Quarry landed several unblocked shots to Quarry's face and both men were bloody messes.




The two big punches were Credeur's undoing as he lost a unanimous decision (and one judge even scored a round 10-8 for Quarry). Credeur's stand up looked impressive and his chin was damn good (he wasn't knocked out) but he could not come back after being rocked. I was a bit surprised that he was never close to getting a submission when he spent the majority of the second half of the fight on his back. He went for an ankle hold but Quarry rolled out of it.

Lastly, I knew Nate Quarry was an older fighter, but damn. He's 37-years old. At first I thought Spike made a mistake. Wow.





A sample size of how back and forth this fight was

Carlos Condit was taken down early on by Jake Ellenberger who began working from Condit's guard. Back on the feet, Ellenberger landed a huge right hand which rocked Condit and he appeared about ready to be finished. Actually there were about three or four times in the first round where Condit appeared he was about to be knocked out or submitted, Ellenberger was that active on his feet and the ground. It's worth mentioning through all that, Condit even landed a big knee that rocked Ellenberger. At the end of the first round, Ellenberger landed a left. He sure made an awesome first impression with UFC fans here.

Ellenberger shot in and took Condit down with a double leg early in the next round. The height differential (Condit had about a 4-5 inch advantage) was meaningless thus far. Condit was active from the bottom going for a triangle, then a kimura. Condit transitioned to the mount and was bringing down the pain with punches. However, Ellenberger flipped himself and easily moved out of Condit's mount. Much like the first fight, it was tied at a round a piece heading into the final round.

Ellenberger almost easily took Condit down after throwing a kick. Later on, after avoiding a guillotine choke (again), Condit worked his ground and pound on a tired Ellenberger. Condit won the fight with those minutes of ground and pound. Ellenberger did transition out of the mount with over a minute left. Condit's cardio was not a factor in the closing minute and Ellenberger appeared to run out of gas. Condit landed strikes from the back and flattened Ellenberger out with more strikes to conclude the fight. Condit earned his first UFC win by persevering through a rough first round.




Roger Huerta improved himself as a fighter in the year off since his last fight. His stand-up had Gray Maynard back peddling for part of the fight. It was close with both men rocking the other with punches. It was less of a wrestling match then I expected going in. Some may have expected Huerta to take this fight easily because it's his last for the time being with his focus turning to Hollywood. Not this fight. Huerta's combination's looked crisp and if Maynard didn't have so much power in his own hands, I thought Huerta would have felt more safe to go for broke.

The final round of the fight (which I had tied up to this point), saw Maynard go back to his bread and butter. After struggling to get the fight to the ground earlier, he took Huerta down. However, Maynard could not do much to Huerta on the ground. Finally after a second takedown, Maynard landed a few hammer fists. Maynard locked on a kimura but Huerta would not tap even though it looked brutal on television. Huerta freed himself with just under a minute left but Maynard did not let go and got another takedown. Maynard waited until the end and used his superior wrestling to control the fight for minutes at a time in the final round.

Much like the two action packed fights before it, Maynard and Huerta produced a heck of a fight. WIth the decision victory, Maynard moves up in the division. With guys like Kenny Florian and Clay Guida out of title contention right now, Gray Maynard becomes a name you figure may get a title shot in 2010.

How about that storyline? The first time in UFC history, a TUF alumnus' fights his former TUF coach for a UFC championship.

Meanwhile, Roger Huerta is done as an MMA fighter right now. There's no doubt he is as talented a fighter as there is. Hopefully he returns after making some films or starring in some television shows.





Nate Diaz (not Nick, although some may secretly think otherwise) fresh off trouble making weight stepped inside the octagon to whoop Melvin Guillard's ass. As Guillard said in his pre-fight promo, it was the streets of California versus the streets of New Orleans. DANGER~! I hear this every time he fights but it's always relevant. Is Nate Diaz the skinniest person who loves to throw the double biceps pose?

Melvin came out throwing bombs and rocked Diaz quickly but Diaz regained his composure and got up to his feet. Trash talk from both fighters during the fight is always a fun addition, right? Diaz's eye was bloodied from punches and his eyesight was fine. Guillard kept looking for the big swooping uppercut or overhand punch against the taller Diaz. The first round had to be scored for Guillard who dished out more damage.

Melvin Guillard rope-a-doped himself into a guillotine choke and tapped out. You could not write a funnier ending to a fight between these two fighters. Nate Diaz is back on the winning road and hopefully his brother can drop the plants long enough to fight.



Nate Diaz is Dangeroooooooous!

---

ANDERSON SILVA approves...of what? I'm not quite sure.

---

Strikeforce has officially announced the date of their first CBS special and it is Saturday, November 7th and reportedly at the Sears Center outside Chicago, Illinois. The main event will feature heavyweights Fedor Emelianenko (in his U.S. television debut) and Brett Rogers challenging one another. As of now the only other announced fight is a middleweight championship contest between Jason Mayhem Miller and Jake Shields. Originally, it was said by Strikeforce that Fedor's first fight with the promotion would be on Showtime. Well someone wanted the fight on CBS and whomever he/she/they are, that is what will happen.

Strikeforce has been on network television in the past but never live. They have had a half-hour programming block on NBC late-night over the weekend for at least a year around the 3 A.M. time period. That show was a clipped highlight show, sometimes highlighting a single fighter such as Cung Le, Frank Shamrock or Josh Thomson. This will be their first show since acquiring Elite-XC and reaching a new deal with CBS.

This will be the first MMA show on CBS since the infamous finale EXC event held in October of 2008. That show featured an anticipated scheduled main event of Kimbo Slice fighting Ken Shamrock. However by the end of the night, Slice lost to Seth Petruzelli in seconds after Shamrock and Slice held executives up for more money, then Shamrock injured himself while prepping backstage for the fight. The night left such a bad taste in CBS' mouth, they distanced themselves from EXC when days later, Seth Petruzelli alluded on a sports radio show that EXC officials had tried to push for the fight to be fought standing and avoid the ground. Whether that was true or not (I always assumed Petruzelli meant they spoke about bonuses for KO of the night, etc. and misspoke while being drunk), EXC died months later.

Fedor Emelianenko was a huge coup for Strikeforce because with Affliction removing themselves from the fight promotion business, they become the undisputed number two promotion in the United States. By signing Fedor, they have (arguably) the best heavyweight in the world. The UFC can rightfully say the best lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight fighters are signed to their roster. But to hardcore fans, Emelianenko is a legend.

The problem for Strikeforce is promoting Emelianenko to the casual fans and now, to potential CBS viewers. They have over a month to promote the show on their networks, internet sites, radio stations, etc.

As for the fight itself, does it seem to you like it may be a crap shoot? Fedor Emelianenko has never had an MMA fight inside a cage to my knowledge. When the PRIDE fighters came to the UFC in 2007 and afterward, almost all said it took some time to get used to the octagon. Has Fedor trained inside a cage to prepare for the fight? Will he underestimate Brett Rogers, assuming him to be unworthy competition?

Rogers is going to make the most of this opportunity. He was only able to quit his day job to focus full-time on fighting within the past year. In interviews since the fight was first announced, he has confidently said he is going to knock Fedor out and shock the world.

The card is expected to be loaded up on talent and names. Jason Miller of MTV's Bully Beatdown will fight Jake Shields to decide the new undisputed middleweight champion (more on that in the NEWS section). Those are the only confirmed bouts but Scott Coker has said to expect Gegard Mousasi and Cris Cyborg Santos to fight on the show. As for potential opponents, although it would make for a sweet story, don't expect Paulo Filho to be signed.

---

JUGGERNAUT NEWS BRIEFS

- The premiere episode of TUF 10 on Spike TV last week did a 2.9 rating along with 4.1 million viewers. According to Dave Meltzer, that means it is the most watched episode in franchise history. The Fight Night 19 special did a 1.9 rating. Needless to say, Kimbo Slice still equals ratings. Let's hope he sticks throughout the show and remains in the UFC because whether you like the guy or not, he's a great personality to watch.


- Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed last week that Cung Le has accepted another film role and agreed to forfeit the Strikeforce middleweight championship. Le defeated Frank Shamrock in March 2008 to become the champion but never defended it. The championship will be decided in a fight between Jake Shields and Jason Miller on CBS this November.


- At a pre-UFC 103 press conference, Dana White said Anderson Silva was indeed having elbow surgery to remove painful bone spurs. This is contrary to what Silva's camp said last week when they issued statements denying Silva was having surgery and he would be ready to fight as soon as November. Apparently someone is confused and add me to that line.


- Dana White is not happy because he says one of the ramifications of Rampage Jackson's role in the new A-Team Movie is the UFC will not be able to have a third show in November. Confirmed UFC shows for the month include the November 14th UFC 105 show on Spike TV and the November 21st UFC 106 PPV. White was planning to hold a third show and some believe he wanted to run live counter programming to the Strikeforce show. Well with the shuffling of fighters (Penn/Sanchez is now at UFC 107 instead of 105, Rampage/Rashad are unavailable, Anderson Silva is unavailable), there is not enough talent in such a short period of time ready to compete.

I don't see why they have to maintain the Memphis show right now with B.J. Penn headlining in Tennessee. Why not delay Memphis until Rampage is ready and have UFC 107 in Vegas or another state?


- Fights of note at the Adrenaline 4 show over the weekend included Houston Alexander beating Sherman Pendergrast by TKO (and keeping his UFC job in the process) and in the main event, Tim Sylvia knocked out young Jason Riley. In the two fights of the night, Alonzo Martinez defeated Ryan Williams by unanimous decision and Jeremy Lang defeated Matt Delanoit, also by unanimous decision.


- Ultimate Warrior Challenger (UWC) presents their Redemption show on October 3rd at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Viriginia. The main event features a UWC bantamweight championship fight between Mike Easton (c) and Chase Beebe. The fight was originally scheduled for earlier this year but Beebe pulled out amidst controversy. Whether he had a legit injury or pulled out to fight in Japan, he will fight Easton in October. Easton is 7-1 since beginning his pro career in 2004. Since returning from a broken arm in 2007, he is 4-0 in UWC. Also on the card is a flyweight title fight between John Dodson and Pat Runez. For more information, check out their site at UWCMMA.com.


- Rick Story earned himself $130,000 extra in addition to his purse winnings at UFC 103 for the fight of the night and submission of the night bonuses. Brian Foster, the loser in that fight, earned $65,000 for the fight of the night. Vitor Belfort earned $65,000 extra for his knockout of Rich Franklin. Belfort won the award over Tyson Griffin, Paul Daley and Efrain Escudero who all won their fights by knockout.


- UFC 103 was a sellout show at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. It was the UFC's debut in Dallas and they earned about $2.4 million from the live gate.


-At the post-UFC 103 press conference, Dana White said after talking with Quinton Rampage Jackson, he will not be able to fight until March at the earliest. So Rashad Evans will have at least six more months to sit and train casually to avoid injury. You know he must be pissed off at this turn of events. The new A-Team film is not expected to conclude filming until December with post-production work taking the crew into 2010.


- Paul Buentello was one of the fighter scooped up by the UFC after Affliction stopped promoting fights. Buentello will return to the UFC at UFC 107 to fight Todd Duffee in December. Buentello began his pro MMA career in 1997 and is 24-10, with a 3-1 record inside the UFC with wins over Justin Eilers, Kevin Jordan and Gilbert Aidana in 2005 & 2006.


- When talking about UFC newcomer Paul Daley, Dana White said he may be involved in the welterweight title picture after his impressive win over Martin Kampmann at UFC 103. White said a Daley match-up with Mike Swick is a possibility to determine the next contender for Georges St. Pierre.


- According to AOL Fanhouse's Ariel Helwani, Strikeforce has signed former football player Herschel Walker to a fight contract. Walker is known as one of the best college football players of all-time. As a running back he is a former Heisman Trophy award winner and he had a successful professional career in the old USFL and the NFL. He is 47-years old and a sixth-degree black belt in taekwondo. He is expected to begin training for up to four months before fighting sometime in 2010. Strikeforce insists this is not a publicity stunt. We shall find out sooner than later whether it is.


- Dana White said it was likely the UFC would cut Frank Trigg after his loss at UFC 103 to Josh Koscheck. In response to that word, Trigg was said if he is cut, his fighting career would likely be over as well. As it turns out, Frank Trigg will get at least one more UFC fight according to MMAJunkie. If Trigg wins this next fight, he will stick around and should he lose, it's the end of his deal as he would have lost two consecutive fights.


- The Nevada State Athletic Commission did not grant John McCarthy a license to referee in that state after he applied. The formal reason provided was the state did not "anticipate adding any additional referees at this time."


- World Victory Road presents Sengoku 10 in Saitama, Japan today. The full card consists of: Antonio Silva vs. Jim York, Joe Doerksen vs. Takenori Sato, Nick Thompson vs. Dan Hornbuckle, Ryo Kawamura vs. Fabio Silva, Ryan Schultz vs. Kazunori Yokota, Tetsuya Yamada vs. Maximo Blanco, Jae Sun Lee vs. Makoto Takimoto, Antz Nansen vs. Hiroshi Izumi and in Gold Cup action, Baek Woo Hyun vs. Ikuo Usuda, Shigeki Osawa vs. Kim Ki Hyun and Ryosuke Komori vs. So Jee Hyun.


- Kenny Florian and long time trainer Marc Dellagrotte are no longer working together after the two friends decided to mutually go their separate ways. Florian is now training with Firas Zahabi, George St. Pierre's trainer. Florian fights at UFC 107 versus Clay Guida.

---

The Ultimate Fighter Review and Preview



Week one is in the books and what a kick off it was. We find out (at least do in some part to editing) that Rampage Jackson may challenge Ken Shamrock and his own performance a few seasons ago as the worst coach in TUF history. Hopefully it was just editing that made him look a bit clueless.

Once Kimbo Slice walked into the UFC Gym, it appeared Rampage's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He was one of the few actually excited to see him. Some fighters like Brendan Schaub (Rashad Evans' #2 pick) did not like it and immediately Slice took the target onto his own back. Whether this plays throughout the whole season or not remains to be seen but it's clear Kimbo is the big draw this year. I know they don't usually do it in this format but it would be better if they edit the show so Kimbo is chosen at the end of one episode and actually fights the following week. Anticipation is great~!

As for the opening week, how could nobody know who the hell Roy Nelson is? I know Rampage has said he does not follow fighters other than opponents, but damn, is it that closed? Nelson was actually chosen fifth by Rashad Evans which means yes, eight men went ahead of him. One of those eight men was indeed Wes Sims. Wes Sims. If you ask anyone who has been following MMA and not just the UFC exclusively for the past few years, who the favorite to win this season is, it's hands down Roy Nelson.

There are several weak spots in the roster this year, just as there is in every season. We saw that in pretty straight forward fashion in the first fight of the season. Abe Wagner (Rampage), a man who has a full-time desk job fought Jon Madsen (Rashad), a smaller heavyweight who trains with Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad. Madsen is also the man who defeated Brock Lesnar in a wrestling match when they were both in high school. The fight may be remembered only because of the amount of blood that poured out of Wagner's skull due to Madsen's ground and pound. In the closing moments of the show, the doctor's examining the large cut told him "this is going to hurt" as they put him back together. Ouch!

The fight was one sided and hopefully NOT a sign of things to come in that regard. Abe Wagner has skills I'm sure. I don't think anyone watching this show knows what they are. First of all, he wanted to know whether they would touch gloves before fighting, which initially pissed off Rampage. At the start of the second round, he tried to do it again and Madsen just took him down. Rampage was PISSED again. The fight consisted of Madsen taking Wagner down and punching and elbowing him. One sentence described the whole fight.

Madsen is a smaller heavyweight and it seemed like he just powered Wagner down so he did not show any explosive shots in this first fight. Training with Rashad's camp (that includes Greg friggin' Jackson, the man who game plans for not only Evans, but GSP, Marquardt, Jardine and a list of others), he should improve in that area. How about that, how ironic is it that after Rashad Evans was scolded by Matt Hughes during the second season (when Evans himself was a heavyweight prospect) for showboating, he is now training a Matt Hughes' disciple.

The former NFL players also got some air time and don't forget, MMA training is WORLDS more difficult than NFL training camp (whether that's true or not, obviously I could not tell you, but they had at least three guys tell us). Former Buccaneers first round draft pick Marcus Jones may be a gigantic individual, but this sport may not be for him (at least in the UFC). His cardio was not great but if size can win fights, he may win lots of them. He is on Team Rampage because, well, Rampage wanted the big guys on his team.



We Know Rampage WON'T Pick Kimbo Slice to Fight, So Who Will He Choose?

Next week, Rampage gets to pick the next fight (however, he loses control in the following week) and don't worry, I'm willing to bet my roundtable spot, Kimbo is not fighting. I will say that if Roy Nelson loses at some point, my underdog pick to win would be Brendan Schaub, a former Buffalo Bill in the NFL. He has accomplishments in boxing and BJJ and is a member of Greg Jackson's camp so he will be comfortable learning from his regular training crew. Other solid prospects include Darrill Schoonover (despite the features of his chest) and hell, why not, Matt Mitrione the only fighter in the house without a professional fight to his record. He's also a former NFL player and if Amir Sadollah could do it, why not him?

---

JUGGERNAUT VIDEO OF THE WEEK

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell performs the fox trot with his partner in the premiere Dancing With the Stars episode earlier this week.

No jokes from me.









Gracias for reading and keep on rolling just like Magog does when he has to fight through logic.



TWITTER

Senor Jon's Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma