UFC
UFC 114 POST FIGHT: Rampage Jackson says loss to Rashad Evans will haunt him for a long time
May 30, 2010 - 10:59:03 AM UFC 114 POST FIGHT: Rampage Jackson says loss to Rashad Evans will haunt him for a long time

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson came into Saturday's main event fight against Rashad Evans at UFC 114 having not fought in 14 months. While he tried to play off the ring rust factor in the lead up to the fight, he admitted afterward that he did, indeed, succumb to the layoff.

"I'm really ashamed of myself that I fell victim to ring rust," said Jackson at the UFC 114 post-event press conference.

After a couple of rounds controlled by Evans in the clinch against the cage, Rampage found a small moment of success when he dropped Rashad and landed a few punches on the ground. But after failing to finish him, Rashad regained another burst of energy and finished the round in strong fashion.

Rampage said he wasn't expecting Rashad to be as fast as he was, and was surprised Evans was able to take him down.

"It was no secret that Rashad was going to try to wrestle me," Jackson said. "Rashad was faster than I anticipated, and he was more aggressive than I anticipated. He had a great game plan and it worked well for him."

While they didn't completely bury the hatchet after the fight, both fighters came away with a measure of respect for one another after months and months of trash talking.

"I'm not a sore loser," Jackson said. "That's why I commended him. [We're] all cut from the same cloth; we all put our lives on the line, and get in the octagon and do battle."

"[We're] the alpha men of the planet, I feel. If anybody beats me, no matter how they beat me – they beat me and I respect that... I'm still not going to forget the stuff he said – he can still kiss my black ass."

After a lot of comments leading up to the fight of being unhappy with the UFC and the way he's been treated at times, Rampage seems to have re-found a desire to fight. WIth a bad taste in his mouth from this loss, he's looking to get back into action soon.

"I would like to get back in there as soon as possible," he said. "I didn't like the way I felt, (and) how much I hesitated.

"This fight's going to haunt me for a long time. I'm just one of those guys. It's really going to haunt me."

But he doesn't feel this fight was indicative of what he can still do; and though he gave Evans credit for his victory, he knows it wasn't him at his best out there.

"I feel like tonight wasn't the real me. I don't feel I was at my best," he said. "Rashad is a good fighter... [But] I still feel I'm on another level, that's just the way I feel."


Penick's Analysis: Hearing Rampage after the fight it really does seem like he now wants to keep fighting. He's never been extremely motivated, but he can't be happy with getting out-wrestled and outworked like he did in that fight. When he had his chance in the third to finish the fight, he seemed extremely disappointed in himself. I hope he does want to get back in there and continue to fight and continue to make his money there. The way he's talking about things in the movie industry, it doesn't seem like that's as he expected it to be either, with appearances and other things he needs to do to promote the A-Team movie, so he may be downplaying some of his past comments. I think we'll see him back in the cage soon enough, and though Forrest Griffin is coming off a win and Rampage off a loss, that may be a really big fight to put together. Other than that, a fight with Lyoto Machida wouldn't be a bad idea either.

RELATED STORY: UFC 114 RESULTS: Rashad Evans defeats Rampage Jackson by unanimous decision after third round scare: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]

[Quinton Jackson art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]