Wanderlei Silva vs Quinton Jackson

Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson…a match worthy of the title “main event” on any MMA card in the world. On December 27, however, this fight will be third in line of such a title. Many will not know the history between this match-up and why it is so intriguing at this point in both fighters’ careers. For all you TUF noobs that need a bit of background, let me be the first to enlighten you.

November 9, 2003. Pride – Final Conflict 2003. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is slated to face Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell at the Tokyo Dome for a chance to advance to the championship match of an 8-man tournament later that night. Just 3 months before, both fighters had fulfilled their duties in Saitama, Japan, by defeating their first round foes in the tournament. Liddell defeated Allistair Overeem by knockout and Jackson defeated Murilo Bustamante by split decision. Liddell had just been defeated by Randy Couture at UFC 43 but had been on a 9-fight win streak before that. Jackson was riding a 6-fight win streak heading into his bout with Liddell as well. For those who witnessed the near 15-minute beating, we remember a few things. First, UFC President Dana White, who made the trip with Liddell to Japan, saying over and over again “Chuck’s not following our game plan.” Second, how much bigger Chuck’s beer belly appeared in the pale, bright lights of the Pride arena. Third, and in my opinion most importantly, how lost Chuck looked when his looping punches had no effect on his opponent. Rampage consistently hit Chuck with bombs, parried the looping punches, and took Chuck down and pounded him on the ground. Rampage elbowed Chuck’s midsection so frequently and with such force that his corner threw in the towel to prevent him any further damage. Silva, just after the beating, would go on to win a unanimous decision against Judo master Hidehiko Yoshida. And with both of these preliminary fights, the finals were set. Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson.

Although things started off at a decent pace for Rampage, it was soon apparent that Jackson had spent much more energy in his first bout of the night against Liddell than Silva had against Yoshida. A little more than halfway through the first round, Wanderlei grabbed Quinton in a Thai clinch and unloaded enough knees to damage a Mack truck. Rampage folded and Wanderlei was crowned the winner, but how much had their preliminary fights determined the outcome of this fight? Whatever our thoughts were, Wanderlei 1, Rampage 0.

Rampage rebounded with a TKO victory over Ikuhisa Minowa only a month and a half later. 6 months later at Pride Critical Countdown 2004, Quinton defeated Ricardo Arona in what could be the most brutal slam knockout we’ve ever seen in our sport’s short existence. Rampage had moved on from his TKO loss to Wanderlei and seemed to be working toward a rematch with the Axe Murderer. Wanderlei didn’t take any breaks in his schedule either as he also scored a KO victory over Ikuhisa Minowa (2 months after Rampage defeated him) and another KO over Yuki Kondo. The stage was set, both men were primed for another battle and everyone wanted to watch the battle again.

October 31, 2004, not even a year after their first fight, Rampage and the Axe Murderer would go to war again. Rampage fought a smarter fight in the first round as he held Silva on the ground most of the first 10-minute period. At the start of the second, it was quite apparent Wanderlei was ready to unleash hell. Silva landed a punch square on Rampage’s jaw and followed that up with a vicious knee that left Rampage limp, hanging through the ropes. Upon replay, the punch that landed right before the knee looked as if it had removed Rampage’s facial features from his head. With a clean slate and a full tank of gas for both fighters, Silva viciously defeated Jackson, again, and proved to be the dominant fighter in this match-up. Wanderlei 2, Rampage 0.

So here we go again. The third installment of this series brings forth new questions, new arguments, and for one fighter an almost guaranteed shot at the light heavyweight title. If Rampage wins, he proves that he has exercised the demons and once again found his dominance as a fighter. Rampage had looked seemingly invincible since his employment with the UFC and was champion until a gritty Forrest Griffin defeated him by decision. It is quite obvious, at least after that disappointing loss, that Rampage did not train properly for the fight and was having issues before this fight happened. Rampage went on a rampage, literally, after this loss and should consider himself lucky that he’s fighting in a cage and not behind bars this Christmas. Rampage parted ways with Juanito Ibarra and is now training with Michael Bisping at Wolfslair Academy in England.

This will be Silva’s third fight in his UFC welcome back tour. For those who are new to the UFC, Silva had a 1-2 record in the UFC before making his transition to the Pride circuit. He had a win against Tony Petarra at UFC 20, a quick TKO loss to Vitor Belfort at UFC Brazil, and a decision loss to Tito Ortiz for the then middleweight belt at UFC 25 in Japan. Side note: Many of you have seen the gif of Tito running from Wanderlei after getting rocked. As a Tito fan, I beg you to watch the entire fight so you can see Tito take Silva down numerous times, wear him out on the ground, and also score a flash knockout on Wanderlei en route to the victory. Silva’s successful run in Pride allowed him to smoothly transition back to the UFC, although his English did create quite an awkward moment when he declared he wanted to, and I quote, f*&% Chuck. Yes, his fighting is excellent, but the imagery of Wand mounting Chuck is one that leaves me speechless…in a bad way. Silva fought Chuck in an absolute war at UFC 79 and lost a unanimous decision. He then rebounded with a brutal knockout of TUF alum Keith Jardine just 5 months later at UFC 84. Both fighters are likely contenders for the light heavyweight belt with a win so I’m sure they will both come in determined for a win.

I know what all signs lead to, and that is another win for Silva and a perfect record against Jackson. For some reason, though, I feel like Rampage takes this one. I don’t know what it is but Wanderlei just doesn’t seem the same in the octagon. He lacked that spark in the Liddell fight and while he defeated Jardine, I just feel like Rampage will be clicking on all cylinders in this fight. I see Rampage fighting a very smart, controlled fight. Expect him to use two and three punch combinations and then circle away to keep Silva from getting the clinch. Rampage will control the action in the first with striking and keep Silva guessing with some takedown attempts. I think Jackson will then be able to get the fight to the ground and control Silva, neutralize any submission attempts, and inflict some damage with elbows and punches. Don’t expect Silva to go down without a fight, though. I see Silva winning either round 2 or 3 by rocking Quinton and leaving a bit of an impression on the judges. My pick: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Unanimous Decision (29-28).