Do you miss Rampage Jackson?

His outside of the cage antics/personality as well as him coaching on TUF ... was entertaining, not to be negative but i think much like Chuck he had a good skillset for the period of time he was in but i would honestly be shocked if he was a contender in this day of age. Slampage will never be forgotten.
 
Rampage was one of many fighters who I felt like was just a ton of wasted potential. He had natural, God gifted strength and brutal takedowns but he got away from even using them. Rampage was always insecure about Rogans criticism of his striking but it was true, he really never evolved much past just using boxing...some kicks would have been really nice. He was notorious for not training unless a fight was scheduled and ballooning up in between fights, he didn't really take MMA serious enough. I know he had a lot of issues with his coaches and management too. Oh, not to mention he had a granite chin and big KO power too, just a really talented athlete. He always seemed faster and more dynamic in Pride to me but it's crazy he wasn't even 29 years old when he won the UFC title.

Some of his wins really held up well, being the man to dethrone Chuck...twice, defending vs Hendo the double Pride champ, beating Igor and Arona. I think Rampage would be trouble for a lot of the top 5 LHWs even today and if he took things a little more serious who even knows.

His interviews with Ariel and Karyn Bryant and humping Japanese reporters like a dog. He was a character and a part of a lot of big moments.
 
Steveston said:
His outside of the cage antics/personality as well as him coaching on TUF ... was entertaining, not to be negative but i think much like Chuck he had a good skillset for the period of time he was in but i would honestly be shocked if he was a contender in this day of age. Slampage will never be forgotten.
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This is a crazy take

And perhaps a testament to how underrated Rampage was in his prime.

At his peak level of performance when he was still training with Juanito, his boxing would give anyone in the current division problems.

I'd argue that he could even be champ today.

Problem is that version of Rampage wasn't around very long. After he left Juanito, got with wolfslair, he degraded a lot over time.

At his peak though, he had some of the best boxing all time in the division. People just forget how good he actually was.
 
Shilajit said:
This is a crazy take

And perhaps a testament to how underrated Rampage was in his prime.

At his peak level of performance when he was still training with Juanito, his boxing would give anyone in the current division problems.

I'd argue that he could even be champ today.

Problem is that version of Rampage wasn't around very long. After he left Juanito, got with wolfslair, he degraded a lot over time.

At his peak though, he probably had the best boxing all time in the division.
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His boxin' was good no doubt. Just feel like guys in this day of age would take him out of his element with kicks & wrestling.
 
Which Rampage are we talking about here? There were several incarnations. Rampage with wrestling was a beast. I enjoyed watching that Rampage. However, once Juanito Ibarra got ahold of him, it was all downhill for Jackson. I suspect injury was a factor, as well, especially after Jones. Even though he showed some promise with the improved boxing, Quinton became slow and plodding, with feet planted to the mat. I have never cared for his outside of the ring antics, but I was never a Pride fanboy.
 
Steveston said:
His boxin' was good no doubt. Just feel like guys in this day of age would take him out of his element with kicks & wrestling.
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Rampage knew how to defend kicks and he knew how to wrestle.

I don't see a fighter in this division who wouldn't have a hard time with peak rampage. I think people just forget how good he was or just remember his lesser versions.

Screenshot_2023-03-13-01-56-07-14_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg
 
Shilajit said:
Rampage knew how to defend kicks and he knew how to wrestle.

I don't see a fighter in this division who wouldn't have a hard time with peak rampage. I think people just forget how good he was or just remember his lesser versions.

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Rampage lost a lot of his fights very much by not defending kicks...Forrest Griffin out scored him with kicks. He also got obliterated with leg based attacks from Shogun and Silva.

When I think of guys with good Muay Thai or Kickboxing Rampage is definitely not on my mind.
 
Shilajit said:
Rampage knew how to defend kicks and he knew how to wrestle.

I don't see a fighter in this division who wouldn't have a hard time with peak rampage. I think people just forget how good he was or just remember his lesser versions.

View attachment 973602
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Fair point, also USADA being in the mix could work into his advantage assuming he was a clean athlete himself.
 
Karl_Hungus said:
Which Rampage are we talking about here? There were several incarnations. Rampage with wrestling was a beast. I enjoyed watching that Rampage. However, once Juanito Ibarra got ahold of him, it was all downhill for Jackson. I suspect injury was a factor, as well, especially after Jones. Even though he showed some promise with the improved boxing, Quinton became slow and plodding, with feet planted to the mat. I have never cared for his outside of the ring antics, but I was never a Pride fanboy.
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He became slow and plodding after he left Juanito.

Which was some time after the chuck Liddell fight iirc.

His boxing, footwork or defense was never really on that level again.

Had he continued with a really good boxing coach, who knows how good he could've gotten. He obviously had the talent. But I think his issue at the time is he didn't want to pay the money for upper echelon coach.
 
Shilajit said:
This is a crazy take

And perhaps a testament to how underrated Rampage was in his prime.

At his peak level of performance when he was still training with Juanito, his boxing would give anyone in the current division problems.

I'd argue that he could even be champ today.

Problem is that version of Rampage wasn't around very long. After he left Juanito, got with wolfslair, he degraded a lot over time.

At his peak though, he had some of the best boxing all time in the division. People just forget how good he actually was.
Click to expand...
Being crazy probably helped his decline as well. Not eating for a few days before the second fight with Wanderlei. Rampaging through a city in a monster truck while hearing voices from god, or whatever that hallucination was. Probably a few more I'm forgetting.
 
I enjoyed him more for his personality than as a fighter, think he was the first to call out Ariel for his slimebag ways.
 
I liked him, his crazy slams and sense of humour. That said, I was disappointed when he showed up for a paycheck in the Emelianenko fight. So no, I can do without him.
 
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