The Greatest MMA News Column 01.05.10: Rampage vs. Evans

Posted by Dan Plunkett on 01.05.2010

411's Dan Plunkett discusses the the future Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Rashad Evans fight and how it is different from when it was first announced last year. Plus, UFC 108 thoughts, why James Toney would be a better fit in Strikeforce than the UFC, and much more!

Roles Reversed in Rampage vs. Evans

At UFC 86 Quinton "Rampage" Jackson lost the light heavyweight championship to Forrest Griffin in a decision so controversial he would have been granted an immediate rematch had he not gotten arrested soon after. Five months later at UFC 92 in December, Rampage returned, knocking out Wanderlei Silva in their third meeting. In the main event that night, Rashad Evans upset Griffin to take the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

In January, the UFC was frantically searching for a fight to headline their yearly event in Columbus, Ohio in March. The UFC, who had helped Rampage greatly following his arrest, approached the Memphis native about getting a title shot on the card against Evans. Rampage accepted the bout despite an injured jaw; Rashad however, decided six weeks was simply not enough time to get ready for a fight of that magnitude. Stepping in for Rashad would be his friend and teammate Keith Jardine, who was looking to make a leap into the division's elite but had no interest in fighting the current champion.

Added in was the stipulation that if Rampage defeated Jardine, he would get the next title shot. If Jardine managed to pull off the upset though, undefeated contender Lyoto Machida would get a title shot. Unbeknownst to Rampage at fight time, Frank Mir had pulled out of his May bout with Brock Lesnar. The UFC pushed that fight back to July, and decided the light heavyweight title match would main event UFC 98 in May.

Not surprisingly, Rampage won a decision over Jardine. After the fight ended, Rashad entered the Octagon to hype their upcoming championship showdown. Interestingly, Rashad was booed heavily as he entered the cage and was interviewed. Soon, Rampage and Rashad found each other and the verbal sparring that ensued was arguably the most entertaining post fight actions since Mark Coleman fell trying to jump over the top rope after he won the PRIDE 2000 Open-weight Grand Prix. In the locker room, Rampage was informed by Dana White that the title fight was in two months. After hearing this news, Rampage decided that he could not fight again so quickly (it would have been his third fight in less than six months) and instead Lyoto Machida was awarded the title shot.



Machida destroyed Evans, knocking him out in the second round. Going into the fight, it was believed that Rampage would fight the winner of the bout for the title. The UFC steered him in the other direction though, as they needed compelling coaches for the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, and they saw dollar signs in Jackson vs. Evans.

All season long, Rampage and Rashad had confrontation after confrontation and it was clear they didn't enjoy one another's company very much. It didn't hurt that the season was the highest rated in the show's history due to a certain, popular cast member. However, before the season began to air on TV, rumors were swirling that Rampage Jackson would play B.A. Baracus in The A-Team, causing the fight against Rashad to be postponed. It turned out the rumors were true and Rampage-Rashad had been postponed once again, which didn't sit well with UFC President Dana White. White blasted Rampage's choice to film the movie, and Rampage responded by retiring from MMA.

On top of Rampage retiring, he also showed to be a poor coach on the show. Evans meanwhile came off as a good coach as well as a likeable person. In early December, Rampage un-retired and announced he would finish the remainder of his UFC contract. After Rashad beat Thiago Silva on Saturday night, it was announced that Rampage vs. Rashad was officially back on. While in March of 2009 Rampage was clearly the fan favorite while Rashad wasn't appreciated very much. In May of 2010, the roles could very well be reversed. Rashad has only gained popularity since their in-cage meeting at UFC 96, while I would venture to theorize that Rampage has lost some fans with his very public battle with the UFC and Rashad.

Either way, the fight will be as anticipated as it ever was when it takes place. At UFC 98 the long awaited grudge match between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra finally took place. The fight had been pushed back about a year-and-a-half but it still generated a very good amount of PPV buys. I don't see the case being any different when Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans finally step into the cage.

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Finally, a guy that left the UFC that Dana (seemingly) doesn't hate!

Dana White and Dan Henderson share a laugh at MMA Awards from Ariel Helwani on Vimeo.

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UFC 108 Thoughts

I enjoy writing with bullet points. I find they are easy to read. In conclusion, I will write this section using bullet points.

From an entertainment standpoint, it was a great show. There were spectacular finishes, a three round war, Mark Munoz had a list of everyone he wanted to thank handy (he must have been confident he was going to win), and just when you think a fighter is going to dominate the main event on his way to a decision victory, his opponent hurts him, only to back off so the fighter can win the decision anyway. As good as it was, it was clear that this event was missing a true main event. Evans vs. Silva would have been a very good co-main event and a great feature bout, but by the time it came along I didn't get the feeling that it was a real UFC main event. I should get used to that though, as I could very well continue to have that feeling with every UFC show until March.

Overall, I was impressed with Rashad Evans. He didn't do much damage and he got caught in the third round, but I liked how he mixed up his game. It almost reminded me of a poor man's light heavyweight version of Georges St. Pierre; striking, wrestling, and ground and pound not quite as good, but it got the job done. I'm not sold on Evans giving Machida trouble in a rematch; Machida's takedown defense may be too good for Rashad. I am looking forward to Rashad vs. Rampage though; the winner of that fight will probably get a title shot.

Thiago Silva didn't do terrible here, he had chances to win and if he improves his takedown defense he could very well win a rematch. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here; could his win over Keith Jardine have been the passing of the gatekeeper's torch?

Can somebody please explain to me why Dustin Hazelett stood with Paul Daley for 2 minutes and 24 seconds without attempting a takedown? I understand he may have been looking for the safest possible opening the shoot in, but it was more dangerous for him to stand in front of Daley than it was to go for a takedown.

Paul Daley didn't really prove anything with this fight that we didn't know, but he does move up the ladder towards a title shot. I would love to see him take on Thiago Alves, but "The Pitbull" is fighting Jon Fitch at UFC 111. That leaves Josh Koscheck in what would probably be a #1 contender fight. We would finally get to see if Paul has improved his ground game since his fights against Nick Thompson and Jake Shields. My guess is he's improved his submission defense and takedown defense, but Koscheck will have little problems taking him down, while any top BJJ player in the division would submit him should the fight go to the ground.

Sam Stout was very impressive, but I believe Joe Lauzon's 11-month injury layoff greatly altered his performance. As I said after Tito Ortiz lost to Forrest Griffin, we'll see where he's really at after he has another fight or two.

Jim Miller took Duane Ludwig down and submitted him. No surprise there. I'd like to see Miller take on Frankie Edgar next, since that's probably the best fight they could give both guys at this point.

I'll get more into Junior dos Santos later in the column. Gilbert Yvel behaved himself.

Jacob Volkmann showed that he needs to work on his hands a lot more before he tries and strikes with the upper echelon of welterweights, especially his defense. Having said that, I'm glad he's not getting cut from the UFC as his first two fights have come against very tough opponents. As for Martin Kampmann, I'd love to see him fight Carlos Condit again just because I love their first fight.

Interesting fact #1: Cole Miller's real first name is Jeremiah. Interesting fact #2: even with knockouts from Daley and dos Santos, Miller had the best finish of the night.

I really like Jake Ellenberger. He impressed me a lot in his fight against Carlos Condit and he did so again on Saturday night.

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This is the week where we find out about Brock Lesnar's future. I wish him luck. The last thing I want to do is somewhere down the road write a "What if Brock Lesnar Didn't Get Diverticulitis?" column.

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Strikeforce a Better Fit for Toney than UFC

For the second straight UFC event, 41-year-old former boxing champion James Toney tracked down UFC President Dana White and demanded the two go into talks about Toney joining the UFC. Probably due to Toney's persistence and willingness to fight under MMA rules, Dana White seems to be open to bringing him into the company. I don't think that would be a very good idea.

Despite never being a big draw on PPV, Toney could do a great buyrate in the UFC based simply off of the curiosity fans will have to see how a top boxer (#13 heavyweight in IBO's rankings) would do in MMA. Eventually, it's going to happen in the UFC, but I don't think this is the right time. Toney is 41-years-old; in the eyes of the casual fan, if you see this guy come in and beat one of the UFC's top heavyweights, it's not going to kill the company, but it won't help in the long run. If he comes in and gets destroyed on the ground, it doesn't do much because Toney is seen as past his prime.



I can see why Toney would want to come to the UFC. After all, he'd make the most money there and it would put his name out there even more. However, I believe that if James Toney wants to fight in MMA Strikeforce is a better fit. They don't have much to lose and would only gain more popularity for the bout. Even if their MMA fighter lost, they gained some much needed publicity (and possible PPV buys should it happen on there). I suspect Toney is interested in fights that will bring in a lot of money. It just so happens that Strikeforce has their very own ‘moneyweight' fighter: King Mo. The build to that fight could be very good.

If the UFC does go ahead and sign James Toney, who do they put him against? Junior dos Santos is manager by Ed Soares, who is also the manager of Anderson Silva. Silva has yearned for a fight against Roy Jones Jr. for some time now, and Soares has said he and Anderson are interested in big fights. Despite dos Santos not being at the level of Anderson Silva, he is the only top UFC heavyweight right not that doesn't have a fight, and it doesn't help that the other top heavyweights are tied up with future fights of their own. Is it possible that Soares and dos Santos would be interested in fighting James Toney? I think so. Having said that, I would personally love to see Frank Mir fight James Toney should "Lights Out" come over to the other side. But only because the trash talk between the two fighters would be incredible.

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