After UFC 123, Let's Give Rampage His Deserved Props
by S.C. Michaelson on Nov 23, 2010 3:00 PM EST
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Perusing the MMA world recently, I've seen articles on a round being 6 seconds too short, about changing the scoring system, about the viability of BJ Penn vs Jon Fitch, about a variety of things. One thing I haven't seen too much of, if at all, is praise of Rampage Jackson for winning his fight against Lyoto Machida. Jackson beat the 2nd (or 3rd) best Light Heavyweight in the world and has not been the focus of the story. Whether or not you want to complain about the judging process, Jackson won.
Before the fight was even announced, many in the MMA "media" and fans had accused the PRIDE and UFC veteran of "ducking" Machida. Going back to when Machida won the belt from Rashad Evans, Rampage chose to coach The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 and have a grudge match with Evans rather than face Machida. Money was the clear motivator in that decision (as well as dislike for Evans), but many tried to spin the story that Rampage was somehow "afraid" of Machida.
As soon as the fight was announced, Rampage was doomed. It was as if he was on death row waiting to be led to the electric chair. People were calling for a Machida/Evans fight for an interim title after Machida disposed of Rampage. "Too slow, too lazy, too unmotivated" was the mantra from those "in the know". It was pretty much assumed that unless Rampage could catch Machida with a punch, he would lose handily. When Rampage offered dismay about fighting Machida because of his "boring style" and a desire to please the fans, it was written that this was merely an excuse for the pending asswhipping coming. All of this background leading up to the fight and once the dust is settled Rampage actually wins and what do people talk about? Judging.
Jackson showed a marked improvement since his last fight with Rashad Evans. Hell, he showed his best outing since the Dan Henderson fight. He had improved boxing footwork and was able to avoid (for the most part) the "rush" of Machida. He showed decent head movement to avoid the quick shots of Machida. His aggressiveness (which I have always touted as Machida's achilles heel) had Machida on the backfoot and he was able to cut Machida off and have him back against the cage on several occasions. His cardio looked in great shape as he easily went 3 rounds. Most importantly, he had a game plan and he followed it throughout the fight (minus the one time he started flurrying and Machida got him and took him down) which is a hard thing to do against a frustrating fighter like Machida.
Despite basically being written off as though the outcome of the fight was a foregone conclusion, Rampage put on a brilliant performance. I take my hat off to Mr. Jackson and hope that he continues to train as though he did for this fight. He beat one of the best LHWs in the world and should be applauded for such.
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SBN coverage of UFC 123: Jackson vs. Machida
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Props to sticking with a gameplan and not coming in piss-poor shape.
But there is little positives to take away from that fight outside of the W. Rampage was whiffing air most of the fight and got his ass handed to him by Machida in the 3rd round of the fight which was the most memorable portion of the fight.
Hard to give “deserved” props, when the overwhelming majority didnt think you won that fight.
You realize Machida is the 2nd (or 3rd) best LHW fighter.
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by S.C. Michaelson on Nov 23, 2010 3:22 PM EST up reply actions
Clearly. And Rampage is elite as well.
But the performance was far from brilliant. The match as a whole was underwhelming excluding the third round beating Machida gave Rampage. He won a split-decision in which most think he lost, including himself. For that, I acknowledge he got the win, but not a situation where one hands out “props” for.
IMO
Given the narrative coming into the fight,
it’s downright flabbergasting that Rampage could even pull a draw against Machida.
The issue here isn’t so much Rampage’s performance, or Lyoto’s performance. The issue here is the gap between what most people seemed to expect from the two fighters, and what was delivered. Lyoto is clearly at, or near the top of the heap while Rampage was being dismissed as a second-tier gatekeeper by most pundits.
Rampage pulled his stock up at least one notch, probably two with that fight. He displayed rock-solid conditioning, lost nothing from his prime self (including a near-slam which had Machida running for the hills!) and had a winning gameplan that he stuck to religiously.
Against a guy who for years had looked invincible and should have easily taken Rampage out, I’d say it’s clearly a props-worthy performance.
Don'tforget Machida got KTFO in his last fight.
Perhaps he’s now a little gunshy?
"We just had a near life experience."
Semper Fi' (Now a proud member of Couch Company, 1st Civ Div.)
Pain don't hurt...
I didn't see it that way, really.
I think in the first Shogun fight, Machida ended up committing a lot more to the actual exchanges than he wanted to, because Shogun was pressing him harder than anyone had previously.
In the second Shogun fight, Machida looked like he was doing his normal thing and Shogun just flat-out caught him with a blitz attack.
Machida looked like Machida to me. Rampage was simply able to cut off the ring, and kept enough pressure on him to keep his balance and timing off until midway through the third round.
Machida never really looked like a trigger-happy fighter, anyways (to borrow from your metaphor). I’ve always agreed with Rogan when he compared Lyoto to a fencer, darting in and out until he gets a wide enough opening to go for the kill. Rampage simply didn’t allow him to gain the necessary timing/range advantage by keeping the fight a short/medium range one.
And when Machida saw the wide opening, he took it, almost closing the deal. Just went for the exact wrong move against that particular fighter, and had to concede dominance as a result.
I think he’s always been “gunshy”. What I love about Machida is how he turns it up from low-rev “elusiveness” and goes into full blown hardcore violence (Rashad). When he does smell blood, he goes after it hard and is a fantastic offensive fighter.
But it takes him a long time to get there sometimes, alas.
"One thing I will never do is I will never say never." -Dana White
No props for great bjj defense?
Well at least the Gracie brother’s acknowledge Rampage’s efforts.
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VEe is ANIMated!
by VeeisAnimated on Nov 25, 2010 5:12 PM EST up reply actions
I completely agree with you. Rampage did put on a brilliant performance. He stuck to his gameplan, but forgot about it for a little in the third, but in the third he also attempted a slam. I was going nuts.
In my opinion, he deserved the win. I don’t really understand why this fight is being so hotly contested, but real robberies, like Imada/Curran were practically ignored.
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Because of the magnitude of the event and availability of it.
Like everything in this world, doesnt change the fact that the decision was off, or at least Rampage thinks so.
he changed his mind at the press conference
and from what i can gather the opinion of the online community is roughly 70-30 in favor of rampage
non-issue
my mother was right....no one cares what i have to say
jefferson davis' wife was hot....there i said it....and it actually feels good to finally get that out in the open
To say 70-30 is downright laughable and a lie
especially considering every media outlet gave the fight to machida
The look on rampages face said it all, he was shocked he won. Dana being pissed for Rampage declaring a rematch for a meh fight is what made him change his tune for the press.
This is coming for a guy who wanted rampage to win
Jackson won two rounds of a three round fight. You shouldn't be shocked that he got the decision.
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by Richard Wade on Nov 24, 2010 1:19 AM EST up reply actions
Take a look at the stats for the 1st and 2nd round.
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VEe is ANIMated!
by VeeisAnimated on Nov 25, 2010 5:17 PM EST up reply actions
He hung in there and arguably edged two rounds. Exceeded my (and most) expectations but I’m holding the superlatives. It was enough to get him some momentum though. If he wins his next fight they can sell him as a title contender again IMO.
"One thing I will never do is I will never say never." -Dana White
"Brilliant Performance"? meh
Good for ’Page, but this fight was pretty boring if you ask me.
"We just had a near life experience."
Semper Fi' (Now a proud member of Couch Company, 1st Civ Div.)
Pain don't hurt...
Thats how it goes when you fight Machida. Rampage’s performance was brilliant because he actually managed to corner Machida, keep him running, and shut him down against the clinch. I thought Rampage’s footwork would get him nowhere with the brazilian, but it actually secured him the W.
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by Kaleb Kelchner on Nov 23, 2010 5:28 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Draw
but ok
"We just had a near life experience."
Semper Fi' (Now a proud member of Couch Company, 1st Civ Div.)
Pain don't hurt...
Regardless of how any individual feels (I scored it for Machida, so don’t get me wrong here) Rampage did far better than many suspected he’d do, and for a man who has a style that looked to be fodder for Machida’s karate, he did pretty damn good.
Just because it’s brilliant doesn’t mean it’s exciting, sometimes you gotta dig in and end up in a trench war, in this case, I really didn’t think Rampage would survive if it came to that, but he did alright for a guy everyone thought was going to bail out on the sport and retire.
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by Kaleb Kelchner on Nov 23, 2010 5:54 PM EST up reply actions
this isn’t to avoid giving rampage props, he did looked good, but it was also due largely in part b/c Machida didn’t do much of anythign minus a couple takedowns and a flurry. Rampage looked nearly as lost on bottom in half-guard as Machida did just laying there on him.
it was atrocious to see at the upper echelons of the sport. 2 professional athletes just basically sitting there with this “wtf do I do now?” look.
i’ve seen a 100 amateur bouts where guys look to finish with more effort.
wtf.
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by theworldsoldestsport on Nov 25, 2010 1:28 PM EST reply actions
I think you have to give Rampage credit for remaining calm when he was on his back and defending Machida’s submission attempt. The Gracie brothers did.
We all know Rampage does not use BJJ for offense.
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VEe is ANIMated!
by VeeisAnimated on Nov 25, 2010 5:19 PM EST up reply actions
