Lefko on UFC 144: Rampage run down
Posted February 26, 2012 7:03 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If UFC 144 will be remembered as the one in which lightweight champion Frankie Edgar gallantly fought in defeat, history may also recall it as the time former light heavyweight champion Quinton (Rampage) Jackson moved closer toward retirement with a lacklustre effort.
Jackson looked more like an old champion than a champion of old in a unanimous decision to Ryan Bader in the co-main event of the card in Japan. It was such a onesided contest that the crowd that cheered Jackson at the start jeered him midway into the second round of the three-round bout and again in the third round.
And it was understandable.
Aside from one dramatic takedown in the second round, Jackson looked tired and uninspired. In contrast, Bader fought an extremely strategic fight, never allowing himself to be a standing target for Jackson’s brawling, which frankly never happened. For someone who looked menacing and mean walking up to the cage and then stood nose to nose with Bader at one point while the referee gave them instructions, Jackson never really pushed the pace. It was expected he’d come out firing at the start to intimidate his opponent, but he seemed to be waiting for something that never materialized. Some 20 seconds or so into the fight, when Jackson realized Bader would not be baited into a brawl, he threw up his arms in frustration.
It became obvious that Bader, who had overhauled his training program by bringing in coaches to help him physically and psychologically, had a game plan and wouldn’t veer. He kept just far enough from Jackson and moved on his feet to gradually tire his older opponent. They are only five years apart, but the elder Jackson looked 10 years older.
The fact Jackson tipped the scales six pounds over the limit of 205 pounds – the first time he had failed to make weight in his career – may have been a precursor of his poor physical condition, and in the end it played right into Bader’s methodical game plan. Bader had lost his last two fights and clearly knew he was in danger of potentially being cut by the company that had developed him into a star on the rise, so give him credit for his professional behaviour. He had been given an opportunity to fight a legend – whether you want to say that in the present or the past – and he came into it with respect and a purpose. He would not be awed or overwhelmed. And as the match ensued, he simply manhandled Jackson with strength and technique.
Afterward, it was revealed by Jackson he had suffered a knee injury leading up to the fight – and aggravated it in the second round – and had been advised by his doctor to withdraw. He decided against it, feeling he could possibly overcome it. The fact he was returning to Japan, the place where had made a name for himself with Pride between 2001-2006, certainly factored in his decision. “The Japanese fans are my favourite in the whole world,” he said after the fight. “I just wanted to please them.”
He also said that after all the Japanese people had been through with the tsunami that rocked the country in 2011, he wanted to do something to cheer them up, putting on a good show from the beginning to the end. It was a noble thought, but he didn’t deliver. And to suggest the injury was a major factor, both for blowing the weight and fighting so poorly, is diminishing what his opponent did. If the injury was so extreme, Jackson should have bowed out, but that would have a blow to his pride. Combined with the UFC returning to Japan for its first card in more than 11 years and needing to be included in it and receiving heavy promotion, Jackson had a huge reason to want to fight. This was likely a chance that would not have been available to him in another year because who knows where he’d be in his career at that point.
He went into this fight as the heavy favourite based on the Las Vegas odds, which had him at minus-250, compared to Bader at plus-210. Had it been made public that Jackson had a serious injury going into the fight the odds would have been dramatically different. The fact there had been information that Bader had changed his training regiment and Jackson failed to make weight may have been reason for anyone wanting to bet on the fight to lay off or take a flyer on Bader.
Jackson took a shot, literally weighing the risk versus the reward that would surely be his with posters featuring his likeness and a chance to recapture some of his old glory. In retrospect, it was a mistake, perhaps a defining one in the tail end of a career that has been underlined by many ups and downs.
Other fighters have had to withdraw in advance of key matches due to injury, so it’s not as if Jackson couldn’t be replaced. This wasn’t a title fight, but due to Jackson’s popularity and his ability to sell tickets, he was placed in the co-main event. An argument could have been made that Jake Shields fighting Japanese legend Yoshihiro Akiyama, dropping down for the first time to the welterweight division, may have been more appealing to crowd. It was positioned as the fourth-last fight on the card. On a side note, Akiyama has now lost four in a row and his future in the UFC is tenuous. Asked about Akiyama’s future in the UFC, president Dana White said: “That’s a great question. I like his style. I like his heart. I like the way he fights. We’ll make a decision on whether he’s cut or not.”
And what of Jackson? He has now lost two in a row, the second-last in a title fight against champion Jon Jones via submission for the first time in his career and now in a co-main event against a young challenger with a bright future. Jackson is a legend in MMA, but his career is clearly on the decline. He is one of the fighters who helped build the UFC into what it is now becoming – a product expanding financially and globally. The chance to fight in this historical card in a country where he still has a marquee factor was as much a reward for his years of service as it was to squeeze out some ticket sales if there was any doubt about how the UFC’s long-awaited return to Japan wouldn’t go over. It turned into a jam-packed card that had many high spots, but Jackson’s fight wasn’t one of them.
He will always have a name among the legends in the UFC and all of professional MMA, but there are young studs like Bader who are hungrier and more determined. UFC 144 was a personal moment for Jackson to go back into the future with his career and give something back to the Japanese people. It didn’t happen.
And the people have spoken loudly and clearly.
