Does 'Rampage' have a chance at UFC 135?

For many, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is nothing but the next highlight to add to UFC Champion Jon Jones’s expanding show reel. It’s not exactly hard to see why public opinion is leaning that way.

Jones’ capturing of the light heavyweight title was as skilful as it was brutal, while ‘Rampage’ has almost faded into the background following his defeat to Rashad Evans early last year.

Jackson’s title shot is seen as more of a product of circumstance than actual merit, with fans more interested in seeing how Jones fares against former teammate, Evans instead.

But should we write Jackson off before he even steps into the cage with Jones? It wasn’t after all that long ago that Jackson ruled the whole division.

Maybe we should look back at what happened to Jackson after he lost the title and his road back to title contention to see if we really should write him off.

After losing his title to Forrest Griffin in 2008, Rampage immediately bounced back with a cathartic knockout win over Wanderlei Silva. That win looked like it was going to score him a title shot against Evans at UFC 96. Evans was not ready in time and he instead met Evans’ teammate, Keith Jardine who he would defeat by unanimous decision.

Immediately following that fight, Evans entered the cage and the two went nose-to-nose in the infamous “Don’t say that, Rashad” exchange.

The confrontation was meant to hype up the upcoming title fight but the rescheduling of the Frank Mir/Brock Lesnar heavyweight match-up meant that the fight had to get pushed forward.

Rampage was unable to recover from the Jardine fight in time and Evans went on to get demolished by Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.

In any other situation Rampage would have received a title shot against Machida, but the hype behind a potential Jackson/Evans bout was too great and the two were made opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter.

During filming, Rampage would sign on to play B.A. Baracus in the A-Team Movie, which resulted in the fight having to be pushed back. The decision angered UFC management and Rampage, feeling disrespected, briefly retired from the sport.

A year after his victory over Jardine, Rampage announced his return to the Octagon and met Evans at UFC 114. The time away seemed to affect him and he dropped a unanimous decision.

Since then he has picked up a disputable but impressive win over Lyoto Machida and a lacklustre but clinical decision win over Matt Hamill.

So since losing his title, Rampage has gone 4-1 with his only loss coming to Rashad Evans. A loss that came after a year long lay-off where he blew up in weight and had external pressures from his movie commitments and quarrels with UFC management.

Sure, these factors are by Rampage’s own doing but that doesn’t change the fact they were at play.

Looking at these fights its hard to argue that Rampage ever stopped being one of the world’s premiere light heavyweights.

So why then are we writing him off?

If you look at Jones’ past fights it’s clear that the main reason he wins fights is his superior wrestling. He completely ragdolled powerhouse wrestlers such as Matt Hamill, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ryan Bader.

So I guess if he did it to them he can do it Rampage?

I’m not completely convinced. Apart from being an excellent boxer, Rampage is a more than astute wrestler. More than astute doesn’t really cut it against Jones but Rampage’s defensive wrestling gave Evans fits in their fight and he also managed to stuff all of Hamill’s takedowns with ease (even if they were poorly set-up).

Jones probably has Rampage covered in that area but there’s still a chance and surely one big enough to not write Rampage off completely.

So if it’s not just that then it must be because the public think Jones has Rampage covered on the feet as well.

For all of Jones’ flashiness his striking fundamentals do appear to still need some work. They get covered up by his dominating ground game and spinning elbows and punches but they are there.

People seem to discredit Rampage’s win over Machida because they believe the decision should have gone the other way, but what people forget is how well Rampage did in stifling the riddle of Machida’s striking. Only Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was able to do it before him, and it shows how solid Rampage’s striking game is.

As flashy as Jones’ striking is, it’s not on Machida’s level. There’s a very good chance that if the fight stays on the feet for an extended period of time, Rampage will be able to make inroads on the untested chin of Jones.

With all that said, there is good reason behind Jones being the favourite for Sunday’s contest. This piece is in no way trying to instil Rampage as the favourite, but to say he is without a chance is just nutty.