Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine Exchange Punches at UFC 96
Former UFC light heavyweight champion and top 205-pound contender Quinton “Rampage” Jackson topped Keith Jardine on Saturday via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 96 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
The event, the promotion’s third-straight March event in Columbus, drew an official attendance of 17,033 for a live gate of $1.8 million.
The opening round of the headliner saw Jardine edge Jackson on the majority of the judge’s scorecards, clinching with Jackson from the opening bell and looking for a takedown midway through the frame while nearly completely neutralizing Jackson from doing any damage.
Jardine opened the second with wild punches the failed to find their mark before “Rampage” sent him to the canvas with a left hook. Despite Jackson’s best efforts Jardine quickly returned to his feet but the tide had turned. After briefly taking Jardine to the ground midway through the round, Jackson closed the frame with a late flurry, winning the round with 10-9 scores from all three judges.
After briefly exchanging early in the third, Jackson again took Jardine down but the fighters were quickly back on their feet. Jackson continued to look for an opening to finish Jardine but none were presented. Instead, he slowly wore Jardine down over the final minutes before finally sending him to the canvas with a last-second combo. The flurry sealed the victory for Jackson, who received scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.
Immediately after Jackson was declared the winner in the evening’s headliner the UFC offered him a bout against title-holder Rashad Evans which would headline UFC 98 on May 23rd in Las Vegas. Provided he’s injury free and up for the quick turnaround “Rampage” is expected to accept the opportunity to attempt to reclaim the light hevyweight belt.
Shane Carwin proved he’s among the promotion’s top heavyweights on Saturday with a knockout of former title-challenger Gabriel Gonzaga just over one minute into the UFC 96 co-main event.
Matt Brown, Matt Hamill, and Gray Manard also picked up main card victories, while Tamdan McCrory, Kendall Grove, Jason Brilz, Brandon Vera, and Shane Nelson were victorious on the UFC 96 preliminary card.
The UFC awarded $60,000 fight-night bonuses to Jackson, Jardine, and Hamill for their performances with Jackson and Jardine taking home “Fight of the Night” honors while Hamill received “Knockout of the Night” for his first-round head kick KO of Mark Munoz. A “Submission of the Night” award was not given out as none of the evening’s ten bouts ended via submission.
The event’s complete results were:
- Quinton Jackson def. Keith Jardine via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Shane Carwin def. Gabriel Gonzaga via knockout (punch) — Round 1, 1:09
- Matt Brown def. Pete Sell via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:32
- Matt Hamill def. Mark Munoz via knockout (head kick) — Round 1, 3:53
- Gray Maynard def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Tamdan McCrory def. Ryan Madigan via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 3:35
- Kendall Grove def. Jason Day via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:32
- Jason Brilz def. Tim Boetsch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Brandon Vera def. Mike Patt via TKO (leg kick) — Round, 1:27
- Shane Nelson def. Aaron Riley via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 0:44
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crap! gonzaga lost!
guess he is the real next big thing though it’s really hard to be undefeated.
now Velasquez should fight some good competition
In my opinion the best event of the year so far. Shane Carwin knocking out Napau with almost a 1 inch punch, imagine the damage he could do if he pulled back and threw his hips into it. Carwin vs Lesnar is would be explosive. I want to know who was that and where was Rampage? The guy fighting Jardine threw leg kicks and also took Jardine down, Rampage and Rashads trash talk was awesome, I like Sugar Rashad in this one however. Well done to Da Spida and The Hammer, ciao for now Jason Day, keep the engine running because Tim Boetsch will be crossing the UFC state line with you in the coming days and finally Pete Sell . . . . . . You got your ass handed to you, BIG time!
yea! Shane Carwin vs Lesnar!!!!
lets get it onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
carwin does need to fight another top contender first though maybe the winner of NOG/Couture or the winner of cain’s next match
In my opinion the best event of the year so far. Shane Carwin knocking out Napau with almost a 1 inch punch, imagine the damage he could do if he pulled back and threw his hips into it. Carwin vs Lesnar would be explosive, as would Cain Velasquez vs dos Santos, and CroCop is back soon and theres a whisper that UFC 99 could showcase CroCop vs Overeem, remember where you heard it. I want to know who was that and where was Rampage? The guy fighting Jardine threw leg kicks and also took Jardine down, Rampage and Rashads trash talk was awesome and I noticed Rampage has picked up some English “sayings” but as much as it pains me to say I like Sugar Rashad in this one however and also agree May is going to be too soon. Well done to Da Spida and The Hammer, ciao for now Jason Day, keep the engine running because Tim Boetsch will be crossing the UFC state line with you in the coming days and finally Pete Sell . . . . . . You got your ass handed to you, BIG time!
dude, rampage is gonna have to learn alot more than leg kicks from forest griffin to beat Sugar Rashad Evans.. he is going to have to do some serious thinkin and lookin back to his street fighting days, combine it with massive training and skills.. Rashad is the champ and definately deserves to be!.. should be good fight, but i will give the edge to rashad, unless rampage can get it together.
P.s.. i want to see bj penn go at it with pulver again!
cheers to TUF this year, going to be intense.
I wonder how many people just jumped on the carwin band wagon? I wonder if hell have haters like Brock does? I’m not sure how carwin is on the ground, on his back, heath herring would be a perfect opponent for him, or kongo
been on that bandwagon thank u very much
kongo for sure i love lesnar but soon it is going to be kongo time
Jackson vs Evans
I am seeing some black eyes and fat lips in this one.
Not cool
I dont think thats a racial joke, its just implying that they are going to beat each other up….
Ironic and true which ever way you ment it
haha thats halarious
I don’t care if rampage finished jardine with a flying gogoplata,i think lyoto still deserves the next title shot.And hopefully rampage won’t except the fight.
“I don’t care if rampage finished jardine with a flying gogoplata” That comment was wicked all I could do was laugh… Picturing Rampage trying a flying gogoplata .. funny stuff
I like Rampage in the Evans fight. But the real question is, what does Machida have to do to deserve a title shot?
Folk was having the same conversation years ago when it seemed Chuck Liddel was constantly getting overlooked for a title opportunity, people like Belfort, Couture and Tito getting the knod before he did, but he did get his chance as will Lyoto Machida. After the Rampage Evans fight, if it happens at 98 in May, either guy upon victory will be granted time off so Machidas shot wont be until maybe September or even October which I understand could be in Japan. Machida for my money is the best LHW in MMA today and beats either Jackson or Rashad whenever it goes down
I agree with you RJA about machida. I would rather see machida-evans than evans-rampage. if rampage accepts I give the advantage to evans and I think evans will ktfo rampage. Evans is younger, faster, and has more ko power than rampage, however rampage has improved since he started training with this new camp…wolf’s den? im not sure. I think evans and machida would be more entertaining as well. I still think regardless of which title is on the line at 98, that card will be average at best.
Bigchris2328
IMO and IMO alone I think the Machida/Evans fight will be the worlds most boring mma match of all time. Both guys are elusive and are counter strikers. No one would land a punch due to runing around the ring the whole time.
And please tell me why Machida so desperately deserves a title shot.?? Who in the top 5 lhw has he beat???????????????????
While I agree with you about evans being faster, he is not that much younger than Rampage maybe 2 years at best, He is a better athlete than Rampage but he only has KO power proven in his right hand. KO advantage goes to Rampage with KO power proven in both hands ala Chuck liddell right hand ala Wandy/silva left hand!!!!
Just a note to start a conversation playboy.
I think Rampage needs a short break before he faces Sugar. To me it looked like he had said that coming off back to back training camps he was a bit over trained,I’d agree. He looked stiff. Glad he pulled it off though. Hamill was awesome with that head kick totally unexpected. Brown, absolutely killed Sell. Carwin has serious power as demonstrated in his open workout (power lifting 400+lbs). Devastating Leg kicks by Vera he looked like he’s back to his old self. Grove, looked better than in the recent past (brutal elbows). The nerd Tamdan was impressive and Miller is tougher than I thought he was but he was no match for “The Bully”. All In all a pretty decent night of fights. P.S. Mir better take a little more time off than he anticipates. You don’t want to be fighting a monster like Brock when Ur not totally healthy. I would like to see Couture Vs Carwin both really strong wrestlers with some decent hands. The UFC will probably give Carwin a shot at Brock now that he K.O.ed Gabe He’s not deserving of a title shot IMO But neither was Brock!!!!!
UFC hasn’t given Machida a shot yet because I’m sure they are afraid once champ he isn’t going anywhere for awhile. IMO this means he should get a shot quicker.. there is a TON of great fighters out there for him to take apart in the LHW div.. and the sooner he gets to it the better for me :D
I also think Machida deserves the next title shot. But Rampage has beaten the better fighters so far. Wand and Jardine are both better wins than Tito and T. Silva, but even so Machida has put together a great win record, is undefeated, and has beaten guys like Franklin and Penn in the past.
I think both fighters beat Rashad either way.
It’s GREAT that once again no ones given ole Sugar a chance! Oh wait a minute he’s the CHAMP, don’t forget and he didn’t fight any bums to get there either and he just almost killed Chuck in his last bout witch NO one gave him a chance in that fight either. This next fight should really show people where Shaad is at.
i agree with you turk… i always liked rashad even when he was in the ultimate fighter
I cant beleive what im seeing ?? everyone on here wants to see Machida vs Evans ?? hahaha please are these the same people who have constantly slated Evans and Machida for being dull and boring ??
well people have been saying for a while and people didn’t say rashad was boring
I have seen very litte about the Matt Brown fight. Would like to see the video again, but it looked undeniable to me that the ref stopped the fight when he got between them. Since it did not change the outcome maybe less of an issue but could have been???
rashaad knocks people the frig out. He’ll kick the shit outta Rampage, but Machida would pick him apart.
Rashad and Rampage arguing at the end was plain hilarious to me!!!
Time for Black on Black crime!! Sounded like either a poorly scripted WWF prefight show or 2 kids in grade school!!
Rashad told Rampage he would put his hand down and let him take his best shot the 1st shot!! LOL LOL!! If that aint middle school material i dont know what is!!
Rashad I love ya man but IF YOU DID THAT homey you would wake up 2 days later asking your moma did you miss the school bus again!!! LOL LOL
What killed me in Rampage/Jardine was the whole time the announcers were acting like they didn’t know who was winning the fight. {only because Rashad was there!!} When it was obvious who won the fight. If Rampage woulda push the pace even harder Jardine wouldnot have made it out the 2nd or 3rd round without being KO’d.
1st round Jardine wins due to being busy.
2nd round Jardine gets knocked down and a take down. IMO 10-8 round like in boxing after a knock down.
3rd round Jardine gets knocked down and taken down again. IMO 10-8 round again because they do score 10 point must system like boxing.
But I guess I’m wrong.
If I see one more “LOL LOL!!” I’m going to commit a hate crime. If you didn’t literally laugh out loud twice, DON’T TYPE IT. If you did literally laugh out loud twice…DON’T TYPE IT AND RE-EVALUATE YOUR LIFE.
PS. A knockdown doesn’t get you a 10-8 round. If you think it should, you don’t belong in a serious discussion.
LOL
LOL
LOL
You actually typed you would commit a hate crime because of that. YOU REALLY NEED TO RE-EVALUATE YOUR LIFE IFTHIS IS WHAT YOU ACTUALLY TOOK TIME OUT OF YOU LIFE TO TYPE DOWN..
DBIZ YOU REALY DONT BELONG IN A SERIOUS DISCUSSION WITH COMMENTS LIKE THAT..OHH BY THE WAY YES I LAUGHED OUT LOUD AND I’M LAUGHING OUT LOUD NOW SEE
LOL
LOL
LOL!!!!!!!!!
GROW UP AND HAVE A REAL DISCUSSION ON A FIGHT RATHER THAN NICK PICK AT WHATEVER SETS YOU IN TO YOUR TEMPER TANTRUMS WHEN YOU READ THROUGH THESE THREADS. TRY IT.. GO ON IT’S ACTUALLY FUN..
Serious discussion: No one who thinks a single knockdown and a single takedown equals a 10-8 round is capable of one. Period.
The rest stems from my ability to act in a somewhat literate manner. Try it, You might find it makes the rest of arguments almost worthwhile.
ANY ONE SAYING WHILE SITTING AT A COMPUTER KNOWING FULL WELL HE AINT GONNA DO NOTHING TYPING HE WILL COMMIT A HATE CRIME IS NOT WORTH OR CAPABLE OF HAVING A SERIOUS DISCUSSION PERIOD.
THE REST STEMS FROM YOU BEING SILLY AND NICK PICKING ON POSTS. TRY THIS TALK ABOUT THE FIGHT OR FIGHTERS, THATS WHAT I WAS TOLD THIS WEBSITE WAS ABOUT, NOT POKING FUN OR ATTEMPTING TO INSULT OTHER BLOGGERS…
HEY I ACTUALLY ENJOYED UFC 96 SEE, HOW FUN THAT IS?? OH YEAH LOL!! LOL!!
Still waiting for you to try and justify calling 2 10-8 rounds. Not likely to get an answer though because you can’t.
Can we please put an end to this…
onlytrue1,
1. Some of your comments have been suspect. I too personally get tired of reading “LOL LOL” in many of your comments, as well as some of the other superfluous (pointless) stuff you happen to throw in with whatever relevant points you make.
2. 10-8… really?
3. The best way for you to deal with someone you feel is personally attacking you, is to stick to talking MMA and stay away from the personal stuff.
dbiz,
He does have a point… you’ve mostly just been a pudding (read: crap) stirrer of late, I realize you’ve been here longer than nearly everyone, but most of your recent comments haven’t added much to the conversation, and certainly not as much as I know you can add. Please, don’t start picking fights.
HEY DAWG
I ALONG WITH OTHER GUYS WHO WATCH THE FIGHT THAT NIGHT TRAIN AND
LOVE BOXING AND IN BOXING THEY SCORE A KNOCK DOWN A 10-8 ROUND. AND BEING THEY JUDGE IT ACCORDING TO BOXING RULES AS WELL WITH 10 MUST POINT SYSTEM I ALONG WITH SOME NOT ALL MY BOYS CALL A LEGITIMATE KNOCK DOWN 10-8 ROUND LIKE BOXING. PLUS PLUS I SAW RAMPAGE TAKE HIM DOWN STUFF ALL JARDINE TAKE DOWN ATTEMPTS.
THUS THE 2 10-8 ROUNDS
NOW IF YOU LOOK AT MY EARLIER COMMENT I SAID I COULD BE WRONG. SEE THAT. I’M NOT SAYING I WAS RIGHT AT ALL. I LIKE MANY OTHER INCLUDING RAMPAGE WHEN HE FOUGHT FORREST THOUGHT A KNOCK DOWN WOULD COUNT THE ROUND 10-8 BUT OBVIOUSLY THAT’S NOT THE CASE.
WHEN I SAY GUYS I’M TALKING ABOUT THE GUYS I TRAIN WITH AND WATCH THE FIGHTS WITH.
OnlyTrue1 – Please clean up your comments immediately or they will no longer be posted to the site. No more excessive capitalization, “LOL”s, spacing, “{STATS}”, etc. or you will be banned.
dbiz – I’m with justin to an extent on this, try not to give commenters you disagree with more fuel as things can get out of hand quick. I really appreciate you being involved but try to alert us of issues we can resolve rather than taking things into your own hands by calling people. It works better for all of us and allows us to clean out the unwelcome commenters rather than having flame wars erupting left and right.
Too many pudthumpers with a hard-on for me here. I’m out.
10-8 rounds:
Last time I checked… this isn’t boxing and has never been scored like boxing. That being said, I think MMA never could be scored like boxing. MMA scoring is “who won that round?” guy that wins gets 10, guy that doesn’t gets 9 or less. If the guy that wins the round completely dominates, then the guy that loses the round gets 8… or if the guy that loses the round gets a point deducted, he gets 8. There’s not one factor, like getting a knockdown, or getting a take down that guarantee winning a round, they factor into the decision, but MMA is scored on Striking, Grappling, Agression, and Octagon Control… if a guy backs up the whole round, gets taken down three times, and only throws one punch, but punch that scores a knockdown… how the heck can that possibly give him a 10-8 round? Right, it doesn’t that guy might even still lose that round 10-9 the other way.
OKAY JUSTIN
NO PROBLEM.
BUT HONESTLY MY COMMENTS ARE NO WHERE NEAR AS SUSPECT OR RACIALY TONED OR SUPERFLUOUS OR POINTLESS THEN WHAT BOB TYPED ABOUT RAMPAGE VS EVANS AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE…..
IF WHAT [HOWEVER RELEVENT MY POINTS] THAT I TYPE DESERVED THAT KIND OF ATTENTION SO DOES HALF THE STUFF I READ ON THIS MESSAGE BLOG….
HONESTLY I DON’T SEE HOW TYPING WHAT I TYPED IS EVEN HURTFUL OR HARMFUL WHEN YOU GOT GUY TYPING RACIAL AND TALKS OF COMMITING HATE CRIMES!!!!!!
EVEN LOOK AT WHAT I WAS TYPING TO DBIZ ABOUT TALKING ABOUT FIGHTS AND FIGHTERS.. IF I ANNOY ANYONE THAT BAD THEN DONT REPLY TO ME.. I AM NOT ATTACKING ANYONE I JUST LIKE EVEYONE BLOG WHAT THEY FEEL ABOUT THE FIGHT WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THAT.
BUT I’M NOT GONNA BACK DOWN TO A GUY TYPING INSULTS THROUGH A COMPUTER SCREEN….
TELL YOU WHAT I WONT REPLY TO PEOPLE LIKE THAT IN THE FUTURE J-DAWG.
Okay kris i’m cool. Sorry Justin if I came off wrong.
Justin I get your point on 10-8 rounds. Again as I said earlier I could be wrong I dont have a problem with that.
No worries, thanks for understanding.
onlytrue1,
It’s cool. I was just trying to put an end to the argument, warn both of you not to go down the path that that was heading, and point out in a civil manner why I was stepping in saying what I said.
In regards to Bob… there’s a report button if you don’t like something someone said, use it and tell why you didn’t like what they said. Sometimes the moderators (Kris, myself, soon to be some more) can see an email before they can read a comment that needs editing/deleting.
I have to take dbiz side on this 1 …10-8?? 10-8 is a domination round can you really say Rampage won the 3rd round 10-8 I personally thought Jardine was winning the round until the knock down a knock down is viewed and scored different each time .. Jardine was Knocked down but got back up the first time quick ..second time held onto a leg. So I cann’t see a 10-8 in the 2nd or 3rd.. takedowns were ok but he did nothing with them so they really didn’t score big with the takedowns in my eyes. Jardine won the first round 10-9 I just thing he did more. Rampage 2nd with the knockdown 10-9. Jardine was winning the 3rd until the Knock down looked like he got off more strikes that round , but the Knock down by Rampage with like 10 seconds to go won him the round 10-9 Rampage {29-28 Rampage} this fight reminds me of Coleman Vs. Rua undog was winning until he got rocked.
*note: For female fights substitute “gal” for “guy” in my above comment
Thanks L at least someone agrees with me
doesn’t matter rampage won no question
if you want to see Machida v Evans, i’d recommend the Gonzaga v Jordan on UFC 56…barn-burner i tell ya.
i remember a few fights back thinking this guy is way scarier than brock. i was also bummed cause gonzaga and carwin would be great opponents for brock because of there skill sets and size and power, and that one was going to lose. gonzaga was dominating and i think got a bit careless. i guess anyone who fights carwin will bank on the guy having awesome recovery time and insane power. that said gonzaga still can KTFO anyone.
the HW division is really interesting with these big dudes like brock, carwin (who i think will decapitate brock, gonzaga, Kongo has some tdd/ground but will need more against brock or carwin, schilt if he comes – ditto, overeem – ditto, i’d like to see tim sylvia fight brock, or fedor. barnettprobably beat any ufc HW most of the time although i’m not sure about carwin he just seems like a more versatile smarter deadlier fighter than brock
UFC 96 was a hell of a fun card, yes fun.. Sober, drunk, retarded in some form it was extremely enjoyable..
The Brown/Sell fight should have been stopped sooner like when it was first stopped imo… Yves is a really good ref and well shhhit happens and that was unfortuante… Brown looked ummmmm great, mind you it was against Sell (collect pink slip now please) but his aggression is something we haven’t seen from him, and way to man up and not kill Sell in the cage and hold back… one of the funniest things said last night is when Rogan said that Sell looked like his accent…
Matt “Motttherfuucking” Hamill Cro Cop’d the fuuuck out of Munoz, and by the way Hamill haters (who said that his wrestling wouldn’t touch Munoz’s eat crow).. Not that Munoz is a bad fighter cuz he is good but damn where the hell did Matt learn that.. And his victory celebration was fantastic, I couldn’t understand a damn thing he said but that dance he was doing and the PURE joy that he was showing was perhaps one of the best things I’ve seen in the octagon in awhile, good on ya kid..
Jardine v Rampage started off slow, no saying that what was with the crowd booing 35seconds into the fight, wow… Then as fights do they picked up the pace and it ended up being a really good fight and Rampage did win but it was close, real close… How Cecil Peoples still gets employed is wayyyyy beyond me…
Black on Black crime (originally from the fight he had with Eastman) is still funny to me.. Rashad is tough, but he didn’t look too tough staring at Rampage, and their “conversation” was good and funny and intense, good times imo…
Kendall Grove good win best of luck in your next bout… Brandon Vera looked intense who did he beat again? ya exactly guess we will see what happens next for him.. BarnCat is freakin awesome funny dorky kid, throwing Dana under the bus like that too funny, admitting why he lost to McLovin, imo time to step him up in comp…
Hey I really enjoyed last night and hell can’t wait for the next one
I share many of FR’s sentiments… but also…
Rampage didn’t look like he was performing at 100%, if he shows up like that against Rashad, I think he will end up knocked out by a vicious counter… but then again maybe not.
I was really angry with Yves Lavigne after that job of officiating in the Brown/Sell fight, but I wonder if some of that had to do with Kos’ complaints after his KO loss, plus the undeniably premature stoppage in the Shane Nelson – Aaron Riley fight that opened the evening.
Good for Kendall that he won, but when you’re literally fighting for your job… DON’T do the Tito celebration…. and don’t pull your shorts down to show off your tat around your belly button… no straight man should have a tat around their belly button.
Maynard looked good in this fight, Miller was game for sure, but Maynard was clearly the better fighter.
Carwin… WOW… that dude is scary, we’ll see what’s next for him.
Boetsch disappointed me.
Vera… well you picked apart a guy you should have picked apart… that’s good, lets see what happens next time.
Glad we saw 9 out of 10 fights, and I’m pretty confident the only reason we didn’t see all of them is because the stoppage in the first one was so terrible.
Oh… and the crowds booing is really starting to get on my nerves, I guess that’s the price for REALLY rapid growth, but I think that over time, as the audience matures in their knowledge of the sport, people will get beyond that.
amen about the booing, i hope your right about the knowledge maturing and all. i wonder though because the japanese fans show a lot of respect and it’s probably more cultural than they know mma better.
joe rogan does a lot to explain what’s ACTUALLY going on so fans can get excited about someone working for a sub or even to wear down and opponent or whatever – whereas it would just appear stagnant which it never is really. the early UFC bouts were more varied.
it would be awesome to have a few open time limit bouts (not realistic i know) but brock would have to either go for the quick kill or approach it differently. THEREARE NO 5 MINUTE ROUNDS IN THE JUNGLE
I was so glad to see Gonzaga lose! I have been saying for a LONG time (read previous posts on this fight, and all others posted by “brandon”… that’s me) that Gonzaga is completely over-rated in the UFC. If it makes it outta R1 he is gassed, if he can’t take you down and be in top control his BJJ is not a threat, and if he can’t land huge shots his striking is no where near good. Thank you Shane for fixing that whole Gonzaga top 10 HW thing.
As far as Rampage/Jardine went, great fight! I picked on my UFC Fantasy thing for a UD, but I wouldn’t have been shocked to see Jardine get KO’d in R1, seeing how that didn’t happen, who cares.
Rashad v Rampage is going to be good. I have Page winning in R4. Rashad has still not been hit hard yet. That is not lucky either, he is extremely illusive and skilled, but he hasn’t been tested by a heavy handed guy. Forrest landed a LOT of shots that were along the power shot level, and if Page lands one like that we will really get to see Rashad’s chin.
As far as Rashad “Ko’ing everyone” someone needs to go back and look at his fights. Rashad has KO’d Sean Salmon, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffon, and Jason Lambert. That is a weird list if I have ever seen one. You can’t really brad about Sean Salmon and Lambert now can you? Those on his list of not KO’ing include Tito Ortiz, Stephan Bonnar, Michael Bisping, Brad Imes, and Keith Jardine. Thats a pretty big list of no KO’s. He does have speed and power, but I would NOT call Rashad a knock out artist.
Ortiz beat his a$$ and was deducted a point, and rightfully so, if not he wins a unanimous decision. I don’t think anyone on here would disagree with that last statement.
OK Shane Carwin OR Junior Dos Santos OR Cheick Kongo
Carwin Vs. Dos Santos
Carwin Vs. Kongo
Kongo Vs. Dos Santos
Come on UFC is it to much to ask for 1 heavy weight slug fest PLZ..
or even Patrick Barry
My Personal favorite match ups right now is:
Carwin Vs. Dos Santos- just think these 2 guys are more for throwing Bombs- 2 of the most heavy handed guys in the division
Kongo Vs. Barry- this on the other hand would be who can kick the crap out of who first… 2 good kick boxers probably to of the best at kick boxing in that divison
carwin wins all of those
lyoto does not deserve a title shot before rampage ,lyoto hasnt fought the same caliber of competiton. plus its better for lyoto to get a shot after jackson because evans will have a decent shot against machida but rampage will be picked apart. i would of rather seen machida fight rich frankiln and i would like to see werdum fight kongo or kongo vs carwin. carwin is the same exact fighter as lesnar and lesnar is bigger and i think he is faster too. lesnar is one of the only heavyweighgts that can handle him
Machida/Franklin 2 would be a good rematch. I think Lyoto has developed more than Franklin has since their first bout, but it has been a long time since Franklin’s first KO loss. Maybe Rich would come in with an avenging spirit? But personally I think Franklin is getting bored with fighting inside the UFC. He wants to fight at 185 and as long as A. Silva is there Franklin is always second best.
I HIGHLY doubt Franklin is “getting bored with fighting inside the UFC.” The UFC has been very good to Rich Franklin, and I doubt he would ever look to fight somewhere else, he would probably retire rather than fight somewhere else.
He has openly stated that he did not want to fight at 205, when asked if a win against Dan Henderson which lead to coaching the U.S. v U.K. TUF was intriguing he stated that he did not at all want to coach it seeing how he’s been there/done that. He also said that he wasn’t all that interested in fighting Dan Henderson. This coming after the huge hype that those two carried when Henderosn was a pride MW and Franklin a UFC MW champion. I don’t know that he is looking to go to another organization, but I don’t see how much longer he is going to stick around the UFC at 205 either. I see him being very bored with it.
Franklin On Moving Up To 205:
“I was talking to the UFC after the second [Anderson] Silva loss and they encouraged me to move up to 205. They told me my position there would be more appealing to them from a business perspective. They weren’t interested in a third match between me and Silva and they didn’t want me fighting contenders because I could eliminate possible title fights, so I was stuck in that I was going to be fighting people on the back end of their losses to Silva and I didn’t care for that gatekeeper position. After the Travis Lutter fight, I said I would try my hand at 205 again.”
Franklin on coaching TUF 9
“I have not personally spoken to Dana, the UFC or any of the production people about [TUF 9]. Six weeks in Vegas, I’ve gotten to the point where I could care less for staying in Vegas for that period of time. It’s time away from my family and time away from doing the things I can do to make money. The show doesn’t pay very well. But anything the UFC asks me to do, I’m always on board for. I guess they would more than likely – whoever, between Dan and I wins – they’d do that fight at 185 pounds. How that makes sense to me I’m not sure, but I take it one fight at a time. So if the UFC comes to me and says, ‘We’re doing the Bisping fight at 185 pounds,’ then it is what it is.”
Nothing he has done in the 205 move has been a choice made by Franklin on his own. All of it surrounded a push from the UFC. Again I don’t say he’s leaving for another organization, I just don’t see him sitting in a weight class he doesn’t want to be in just to be there.
No, he openly stated he did not want to fight at 185 when asked about coaching TUF, because the TUF coaches fight is going to be at 185, and he just moved up to 205, where he would like to stay as far as I know. The reason why Franklin V. W. Silva is going to be at 195 is because Rich wants to stay at 205, and doesn’t want to have to make that cut down to 185 any more, but Wandy is on the way down to 185, so he doesn’t want to have to “bulk up” for a fight at 205.
If you have anything where he has stated that he doesn’t want to stay at 205, post the link, and I will read it and accept that you may have a point, but to this point I have seen nothing that would indicate that he is uninterested in fighting at 205.
Franklin On Moving Up To 205:
“I was talking to the UFC after the second [Anderson] Silva loss and they encouraged me to move up to 205. They told me my position there would be more appealing to them from a business perspective. They weren’t interested in a third match between me and Silva and they didn’t want me fighting contenders because I could eliminate possible title fights, so I was stuck in that I was going to be fighting people on the back end of their losses to Silva and I didn’t care for that gatekeeper position. After the Travis Lutter fight, I said I would try my hand at 205 again.”
Franklin on coaching TUF 9
“I have not personally spoken to Dana, the UFC or any of the production people about [TUF 9]. Six weeks in Vegas, I’ve gotten to the point where I could care less for staying in Vegas for that period of time. It’s time away from my family and time away from doing the things I can do to make money. The show doesn’t pay very well. But anything the UFC asks me to do, I’m always on board for. I guess they would more than likely – whoever, between Dan and I wins – they’d do that fight at 185 pounds. How that makes sense to me I’m not sure, but I take it one fight at a time. So if the UFC comes to me and says, ‘We’re doing the Bisping fight at 185 pounds,’ then it is what it is.”
Nothing he has done in the 205 move has been a choice made by Franklin on his own. All of it surrounded a push from the UFC. Again I don’t say he’s leaving for another organization, I just don’t see him sitting in a weight class he doesn’t want to be in just to be there.
I’ve read all of that already, none of that says that he doesn’t want to fight at 205, it just says that it wasn’t his idea to move there.
I may have been off on my characterization of his feelings towards potentially fighting Bisping at 185, but only slightly.
However, you said “I don’t see how much longer he is going to stick around the UFC at 205 either. I see him being very bored with it,” and “He has openly stated that he did not want to fight at 205.” Neither of those are supported by those quotes.
More specifically in regards to him not sticking around the UFC at 205; the fact that Franklin said, “But anything the UFC asks me to do, I’m always on board for,” would seem to contradict that statement. That statement implies you think he would either look to fight somewhere else, or retire. You have since said you don’t think he’ll be fighting for another organization, so I guess that means you think he’ll retire… even though he has said that he thinks he’ll be fighting for at least a few more year?
We’ll have to see man, but if a person says that it wasn’t their position to fight at 205 but after being persuaded by the UFC he decided to make the move, it doesn’t sound like he was thrilled with it. And in pre fight videos he hasn’t even come close to sounding enthused about his opponents (Hammill/Henderson/Wand). Now that might be my interpretation of his attitude, but I think every interview he has given since his move to 205 has been filled with things like
“they encouraged me…” “how that makes sense…” “what ever the UFC wants me to do…”
Those aren’t the words of someone who is entirely thrilled about his position.
Werdum is gone off to try to fight Kimbo. So him versus Kongo will not happen.
Lesnar versus Carwin is a fight I’ve wanted to see for a long time. I would like to see Carwin and Velazquez too.
Cannot agree with Lyoto not fighting good competition plus he KO’d Franklin in a nasty way. The only reason I’d give the shot to Rampage first is because he was the champion.