UFC 114
- Thread starter Chuy Savedra
- Start date
I hate Rashad and hope Rampage kicks the living shit out of him. I will give credit to Rashad tho for the two highlight reel knockouts he has. One being against Lidell. He has made a good transition from a boring wrestler when he first came in, to a guy that wants to finish fights...even if the fight is ended by Machida knocking him the fuck out lol
Dana White confirms light heavyweight title shot on the line for UFC 114 main event
The feud between UFC 114 main event fighters Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans has a new wrinkle.
UFC president Dana White confirmed earlier talk that the winner of the May 29 grudge match will be the first to challenge the promotion's newly minted light heavyweight champion, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
"I did commit to the winner (of UFC 114) getting a title shot," White said during an action-packed conference call promoting the event, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Jackson (30-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) and Evans (14-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) picked up right where they left off as rival coaches on "The Ultimate Fighter 10." They turned the call into one big mash of insults and interruptions unrivaled by any of the promotion's previous teleconferences.
The fighters left no sore spot untouched: they attacked each other's losses, heart, race, sexual orientation – you name it. They were separated verbally several times by White.
Evans and Jackson were originally scheduled to fight this past December at UFC 107 in a traditional end-of-season fight between "TUF" coaches. But those plans were scrapped by Jackson's turn as "B.A. Baracus" in the upcoming movie remake of "The A-Team" and the fighter had a public falling out with the promotion.
Jackson returned to the fold earlier this year and signed a new fight contract with Evans as his first obligation. Evans, meanwhile, took on Thiago Silva at UFC 108 and earned a solid decision victory over the Brazilian.
The two jawed incessantly during the filming of "TUF 10" this past June and often seemed mere seconds away from swinging at each other.
Jackson, who's repeatedly called the May 29 fight a "tune-up," said the title opportunity has come at the perfect time.
"I've been training for this fight like it was a title shot," Jackson said. "I've been training five rounds because I still feel like I'm a champion in my mind. So for it to be a title shot next makes it sweet.
"So I can just go right into it and keep training those five round and get my belt back and get back on the right track of being one of the best fighters in the world."
A two-time UFC light heavyweight champion, Jackson said he is still haunted by a 2005 loss to Rua in PRIDE and intends to use Evans as a springboard to revenge. He said his camp for Evans is his longest yet at 13 weeks.
"I see the universe is opening up for me right now," Jackson said.
Evans, of course, made sure to rub the Rua loss in. But his eyes appeared to be locked on Jackson more than the new champion.
"Every time I find myself not wanting to do something, I just think of something he said and ... it just gives you that extra little push," Evans said.
White made no mention of a timetable for Rua's first title defense.
Judging by the fireworks on the call, the UFC president was not bent out of shape by the bout's delay.
"It all did work out okay," he said. "I'm in the fight business and this is what we do, especially coming off that season of "The Ultimate Fighter," the way that these two hated each other ... it was a huge blow, the fight being in Memphis and everything else.
"But everything worked out. There's a lot of buildup. People want to see this fight really bad, so it's worked out."
The feud between UFC 114 main event fighters Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans has a new wrinkle.
UFC president Dana White confirmed earlier talk that the winner of the May 29 grudge match will be the first to challenge the promotion's newly minted light heavyweight champion, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
"I did commit to the winner (of UFC 114) getting a title shot," White said during an action-packed conference call promoting the event, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Jackson (30-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) and Evans (14-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) picked up right where they left off as rival coaches on "The Ultimate Fighter 10." They turned the call into one big mash of insults and interruptions unrivaled by any of the promotion's previous teleconferences.
The fighters left no sore spot untouched: they attacked each other's losses, heart, race, sexual orientation – you name it. They were separated verbally several times by White.
Evans and Jackson were originally scheduled to fight this past December at UFC 107 in a traditional end-of-season fight between "TUF" coaches. But those plans were scrapped by Jackson's turn as "B.A. Baracus" in the upcoming movie remake of "The A-Team" and the fighter had a public falling out with the promotion.
Jackson returned to the fold earlier this year and signed a new fight contract with Evans as his first obligation. Evans, meanwhile, took on Thiago Silva at UFC 108 and earned a solid decision victory over the Brazilian.
The two jawed incessantly during the filming of "TUF 10" this past June and often seemed mere seconds away from swinging at each other.
Jackson, who's repeatedly called the May 29 fight a "tune-up," said the title opportunity has come at the perfect time.
"I've been training for this fight like it was a title shot," Jackson said. "I've been training five rounds because I still feel like I'm a champion in my mind. So for it to be a title shot next makes it sweet.
"So I can just go right into it and keep training those five round and get my belt back and get back on the right track of being one of the best fighters in the world."
A two-time UFC light heavyweight champion, Jackson said he is still haunted by a 2005 loss to Rua in PRIDE and intends to use Evans as a springboard to revenge. He said his camp for Evans is his longest yet at 13 weeks.
"I see the universe is opening up for me right now," Jackson said.
Evans, of course, made sure to rub the Rua loss in. But his eyes appeared to be locked on Jackson more than the new champion.
"Every time I find myself not wanting to do something, I just think of something he said and ... it just gives you that extra little push," Evans said.
White made no mention of a timetable for Rua's first title defense.
Judging by the fireworks on the call, the UFC president was not bent out of shape by the bout's delay.
"It all did work out okay," he said. "I'm in the fight business and this is what we do, especially coming off that season of "The Ultimate Fighter," the way that these two hated each other ... it was a huge blow, the fight being in Memphis and everything else.
"But everything worked out. There's a lot of buildup. People want to see this fight really bad, so it's worked out."
I think it'll even out the rest of the week, Rampage is too well known/good. The Bisping line is the most surprising, Miller's tailor made to get him back up to contender status. He's got a decent record but has no big wins, Maia outstruck him his last fight and Sonnen didn't get subbed by him so his BJJ isn't too offensive
Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson ko's Rashad Evans
Light Heavyweight bout: Antônio Rogério Nogueira ko's Jason Brilz
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping dec Dan Miller
Heavyweight bout: Todd Duffee ko's Mike Russow
Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez dec John Hathaway
Spike TV Card
Welterweight bout: Dong Hyun Kim ko's Amir Sadollah
Lightweight bout: Efrain Escudero submits Dan Lauzon
Preliminary Card
Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard ko's other guy
Light Heavyweight bout: Luiz Cane ko's Cyrille Diabaté
Lightweight bout: Aaron Riley dec Joe Brammer
Middleweight bout: Jesse Forbes toss up Ryan Jensen
Light Heavyweight bout: Antônio Rogério Nogueira ko's Jason Brilz
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping dec Dan Miller
Heavyweight bout: Todd Duffee ko's Mike Russow
Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez dec John Hathaway
Spike TV Card
Welterweight bout: Dong Hyun Kim ko's Amir Sadollah
Lightweight bout: Efrain Escudero submits Dan Lauzon
Preliminary Card
Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard ko's other guy
Light Heavyweight bout: Luiz Cane ko's Cyrille Diabaté
Lightweight bout: Aaron Riley dec Joe Brammer
Middleweight bout: Jesse Forbes toss up Ryan Jensen
