Haven’t seen a thread on this so figured I would start one. I am not the greatest MMA expert, I watch it a lot but I’m in the 1% of people on the planet who don’t practice it, so take this with a grain of salt…
I think the UFC is screwing Rampage. Having him fight Lidell in only his second UFC fight is ridiculous. We saw how inexperience in the octagon can effect a great fighter as evident by Cro Cop’s second fight. Rampage is pretty much the only fighter in the division who has a legitimate shot to beat Lidell and probably 1 of only 2 fighters in the world at that weight (Shogun being the other - maybe Silva as well).
Why have them fight so soon? Something tells me the UFC wants to ensure Lidell beats Rampage so Lidell can remain the poster boy for why UFC is the best organization. I really doubt this fight will be as good as it could have been due to Rampage’s inexperience in the cage. Hopefully after this he can get some good fights under his belt in the cage and they can have a rematch.
Anyways, just one fan’s thoughts. I would love to hear how other people feel about this fight.
I don’t think the cage will be an issue for Rampage. I agree, he’s fought in the cage only once in the UFC, but he’s been in at least 6 fights in cages.
Four times in King Of The Cage and once in the WFA. This doesn’t include the other organizations that I’m not aware of that are fought in the cage.
Well, Chuck went over to Rampage’s house and fought in Pride. Now it’s Rampage’s turn to go to Chuck’s house.
Rampage has no excuses here. He’s fought the best guys in the world. He’s fought in a cage plenty and fought in the cage for WFA just before he came to the UFC. He’s too good to be given cannon fodder.
Also, i’m not a big fan of too many warm up fights. It gives too much opportunity for someone to come along and cause an upset (eg Cro Cop). Just put people in with guys on their level and let’s see a good scrap.
This is a great fight. Even though I wouldn’t consider Rampage at the very top 3 or 5 of the 205 pound division he’s probably the best match up out there for beating Chuck. All of his bad losses came in the Thai clinch, which isn’t Chuck’s forte.
Rampage has great hands and a sack of balls to step in, but most importantly for fighting Chuck he has solid “crazy monkey” defense that seals up his face nice and tight against those odd angle punches.
It’s a 50/50 fight, just depends on who brings their ‘A’ game. Last time Rampage did, and I think he will again. All of this shit going on outside of the ring with Chuck has to take somewhat of a toll on his mind. Rampage TKO 4.
In the year of the upset its becoming damn hard to call fights with any degree of certainty.
I can see Rampage’s slams not being too much of an issue as Chuck has an extensive background in wrestling.
If they stay standing, which I imagine will be the case, neither of them are going to fight not to lose. They’ll both some out swinging for the fences.
I think its unlikely that this fight will go beyond the 2nd round considering both fighters’ records of 1st and 2nd round KOs.
As for who will win, I think Rampage may just sneak it. Liddell obviously has far more to lose, if he is even slightly defensive at any point Rampage is going to capitalise.
[quote]AdamC wrote:
Donut62 wrote:
All of this shit going on outside of the ring with Chuck has to take somewhat of a toll on his mind. Rampage TKO 4.
What shit is that?[/quote]
The whole ‘300’ promotional tour, his drugged out appearance on TV, his appearance on Entourage, etc etc. Chuck has a lot stuff going on outside the ring, and has kind of become the go to guy to have at every Hollywood party. I think his lifestyle out of the ring is pretty rough, and while he is the Iceman I think Rampage will be laser focused and Chuck’s mind not might have been in the right place throughout his camp.
But again, a 50/50 fight. Whoever has better odds will get my bet.
That’s a pretty good write up. If I was Jackson’s camp I would tell him to to keep a methodical and effective workrate through the first three rounds, and save going for broke until those championship rounds that Chuck hasn’t seen in ages. The earlier the fight ends the more probable it will be with the Iceman’s hand raised.
[quote]AdamC wrote:
Well, Chuck went over to Rampage’s house and fought in Pride. Now it’s Rampage’s turn to go to Chuck’s house.
First of all, your avatar is awesome. I think that the most important thing to remember for this upcoming fight is the first Liddell/Jackson fight was around four years ago or so. Chuck has improved his game (BJJ etc.)considerably and is arguably in better condition now (albeit, slightly older) than back then.
I also think that it is a little unfair to have Rampage fight Chuck with only one real warm-up fight in the UFC. But, as everything else, it all boils down to economics. No matter what happens in this fight, it will definitely be a big draw for the UFC.
“Like it or not, with the exception of Chuck Liddell?s popularity, not enough has changed since the first fight to make the outcome at UFC 71 any different.”
This quote pretty much sums it up. However I don’t think that Jackson has been as aggressive since Silva KOed him into next week. Maybe it is a good thing for him that he has been more cautious in his last couple of fights. He won against good competition (Marvan Eastman and Matt Lindland) but he was not quite the “Rampage” of old.
I watched the fight on Youtube and Chuck didn’t seem to have a whole lot of luck connecting. Rampage is a quick guy and seemed to be one step ahead. Not to mention that Chuck tried to stop every one of Quinton’s jabs with his face.
I think Rampage will stick to his old game plan, considering it worked quite well the last time. I think he will keep his distance, make Chuck work, and go to the final two rounds to go for the kill. I have no doubt that Rampage could wait and take a decision over Chuck, but he wants to knock him out. That might not be the smartest game plan, but I think that is what he is going for.
Very well done, and not UFC centric. It has a very nice article on Pancrase star Yuki Kondo, and the obligatory “holy fuck Fedor is awesome” article up right now.
I don’t think th UFC necessarily wants Chuck to win, this is a win-win situation for them. Rampage’s personality is pure gold from a marketing standpoint, his interviews would be a thousand times better than Chucks have been…that isn’t a knock on Chuck, but Rampage is just one of those individuals that can take over a room when he’s speaking. Very marketable.
From all I’ve been reading, it seems that Rampage has regained his pre-Wanderlei knocking him thru the ropes form, which is a pretty dangerous fighter. Either way, I’m looking forward to some bombs being thrown.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
Just saw an ESPN segment on MMA fighting. They had Joe Rogan, and some boxing guy on there.
Good debate, but the boxing guy just could not give UFC any respect. he sounded insulted that UFC was given any attention at all.
I think Rogan kicked his ass. [/quote]
Rogan owned him. Awesome stuff.
And to add to the buzz for this fight, Dana announced in a conference call yesterday that a fighter will come into the ring and challenge the winner of Rampage/Chuck for the next LHW title fight. Dan Henderson and Shogun are both going to be at the event so it’s almost certainly one of the two.