The Biggest Grudge Match in UFC History?
Now I’ve heard that statement a few times before…Ortiz v Liddell, Ortiz v Shamrock and a few others spring to mind.
Some of them lived up to the hype, while others did not.
I think this match up between ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Rashad Evans will be one that delivers.
Their feud began with Jackson’s defeat of Keith Jardine at UFC 96 in which I thought Jackson did quite well even though it was a reasonably close fight but deserved the win and I was a little dissappointed with Rashed’s carry on afterwards.
Even though he was somewhat cocky at times I had some respect for Rashad as a fighter in and out of the ring, but I thought his attitude after this fight was unnecessary and unwarranted and I thought Rampage handled it quite well.
Their rivalry continued on through their respective coaching stints on the Ultimate Fighter and at times I would not have been surprised if they came to blows during the filming of the show.
Both men maintained their self control though and I guess they knew that they both new they had to settle it in the octagon.
So in anticipation of one of the biggest grudge mathces in recent memory I decided to post this recent video which shows some of Rashad’s workout and Jackson’s workouts and some TUF footage in preparation for their match up at UFC 114.
There also a brief spot on Michael Bisping’s fight with Dan Miller which should also be a pretty good match up.
It’s very hard to pick a winner for this fight but as Joe Rogan suggested in the video I think Rashad will have to adopt a GSP style approach to this fight, using his fast feet and hands to keep Jackson guessing and then mix it up with some blasting takedowns. He will have to set them up well ’cause Rampage has some excellent wrestling himself and is very strong.
On the flip side, I see Rampage having to put some pressure on Rashad and try to wear him down and take a few notches out of his tremendous conditioning.
Rampage’s training has come a long way since his PRIDE days and his evolution as an MMA fighter has been outstanding but I don’t know if his time away playing MR T is going to help him out any.
Meanwhile, Rashad’s training camp is second to none with big guns like Grag Jackson, Nate Marquardt and some other guy that goes by the name of….GSP?
That’s a tough act to follow!
Either way, I’m sure it will be an awseome match up and I’m chomping at the bit to see it!
