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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Light heavyweights Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson have been engaged in a war of words for quite some time, with the former Strikeforce Champ Lawal continuing things on Saturday night after a victory over Lorenz Larkin at Strikeforce "Rockhold vs. Jardine." Continuing the theme of the last month, Lawal said Jackson should come over to Strikeforce to fight him, and "Rampage" responded on Monday's edition of "Inside MMA" on HDNet.
"It's funny that he gotta talk about me after his fight and say I should move down to the Strikeforce and fight him," Jackson said (transcribed by BJPenn.com). "I'm sorry, but from where I'm sittin', that's a step down. You know what I'm sayin'? Why would I wanna step down to the Strikeforce and fight him when I'm fightin' in the biggest organization in the world?”
There's no love lost between the two, and Jackson talked about his disdain for Lawal, as well as commenting on Saturday's fight with Larkin.
"I don't like the guy," Jackson said flatly. "He's a hater. He's a big time hater, you know what I'm sayin'? He's been calling me out on Twitter and stuff. He's just hatin' big time. He, uh, he told me a while ago that he wanted to fight me when I'm on my way out. When I'm over the hill. Like most fighters, we get old and the time comes to retire. He said that's when he wants to fight me, years ago. Now he's comin' at me like I'm on my way out…
"I wasn't impressed with Mo's fight at all. He beat some guy and knocked some guy out on the ground, but the guy has no wrestling experience at all. I can look at Mo, I'm a fighter — I could tell he was gettin' tired. If it woulda went to the next round, homeboy probably woulda come back. Cuz Mo looked like he was gettin' tired. I don't think Mo's been in the cage with the best in the world. He thinks I'm a bum now? Cuz I lost a fight with Jon Jones, one of the best light heavyweights in my weight class right now? So, I lost a fight to that guy, so now I'm a bum? Well, he can say that all he wants, but that guy has never fought anybody close to the caliber of the guys I've fought."
Penick's Analysis: Rampage's comments convey the feelings of other UFC fighters who may not be too excited about a potential move to Strikeforce. The Strikeforce fighters - essentially stuck in that organization with the new Showtime deal - continue to call out the UFC's roster, but everyone in the UFC won't necessarily be keen on making that move if it's even in the works. One thing that may change their minds is money, but how much is Zuffa willing to spend on Strikeforce cards that aren't bringing much of anything from a live gate standpoint in 2012? Past that, this Lawal-Rampage thing probably isn't going to ever actually come to a head. By the time Lawal and other Strikeforce fighters make it to the UFC (if that eventually happens), Rampage may be ready to officially step away. Even if he's not, Lawal may not be in a spot to get the fight with him in the first place, so it's a lot of empty words being thrown around.
[Rampage Jackson art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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