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UFC 114 – Rampage meets Rashad

Rashad Evans and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson are fighting for more than just pride at UFC 114. They’ll be battling for the next title shot versus Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight king Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.

During a heated conference call in which the two fighters landed verbal jabs about each other’s losses, sexual orientation, skill and heart, UFC president Dana White confirmed a title bout awaits the winner of their UFC 114 main event on May 29 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“It do add a little more, just as far as all the hype and just the mental energy you got to put into it,” said Evans (19-1-1).

“But at the same time, you do (have) to remember that you’re training for a fight and you can’t get ahead of yourself and overtrain, just because you don’t like the person. You got to really be disciplined about that, pulling back when you need to pull back.

“But it’s been kind of fun, to be honest, because every time I find myself not wanting to do something, I just think of something that (Jackson) said. I’m just like, ‘Oh yeah.’ Then it just give me the extra little push.”

Jackson (30-7), who called the UFC 114 showdown a “tune-up match,” said he’s “been training for this fight like it was the title shot.

“I’ve been training five rounds. I still feel like I’m champion in my mind, so for it to be a title shot next just makes it sweet. So I’ll just go right into it and keep training those five rounds and get my belt back, get back on the right track of being one of the best fighters in the world.”

Evans and Jackson were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 107 last December following a season-long build-up as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter. But when Jackson was offered a starring role in the movie remake of The A-Team, he and White had a falling out, leading to the postponement of the bout. But after Jackson agreed to return to UFC this year and Evans beat Thiago Silva in January, it set the stage for their showdown to finally take place at UFC 114.

“You can tell this is genuine and these guys really don’t like each other. They really want to fight,” said White.

Awaiting the winner is ‘Shogun’ Rua, who defeated Lyoto Machida for the title at UFC 113 in Montreal earlier this month.

“I see like the universe has opened up for me right now. It seems like it’s my time,” said Jackson, who would love little more than beating his nemesis Evans and getting the chance to avenge a 2005 loss to Rua.

Competing in the PRIDE middleweight Grand Prix in Japan, Rua knocked Jackson out in the quarterfinal round on his way to winning the prestigious tournament. Jackson says that loss haunts him to this day.

“I never even should have took the fight. I went into the fight already injured. It’s one of those things, it taught me a mean lesson. Back in the day, I was young. I was a kid, full of myself. I felt like, ‘Oh, Shogun ain’t fought nobody. He can’t hurt me. I can still take this fight even though I’m injured.’ I was all about making that money. And it end up costing me,” he said.

“Even now I hear Rashad talking bad about it. I can’t even explain how that make me feel. It makes me want to put a hurting on Rashad, then go put a hurting on Shogun. I’m so fired up and so motivated.”

For months, the two have exchanged near-endless trash talk. Following a Jackson victory over Evans’ best friend, Keith Jardine, at UFC 96 in March 2009, Jackson and Evans had words in the Octagon. At UFC 100 last July, they got into a shoving match at ringside. The heat continued starting on the first day of filming last summer during Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. With UFC 114 just around the corner, there’s no sign of either former champion shutting up.

Said Jackson at various points during this week’s conference call:

- “He has done nothing compared to what I’ve done . . . Fighting this guy is kind of like a step backwards.”

- “He’s just real fake and real cocky.”

- “He done knocked out Chuck (Liddell) and then he knocked out this other fat guy (Sean Salmon at UFC Fight Night 8) with a head kick so he feels like he the man.”

Evans responded in kind:

- “Mother (expletive), you’re not stupid. Stop acting like just because you black, you’re stupid. I can’t stand that attitude,” said Evans, who was offended by several jokes Jackson made during the call.

- “I got the belt from the guy (Forrest Griffin) that beat you.”

- “You ain’t got no heart. You’re the (expletive) Tin Man . . . Go see Oz.”

White said the heat between Evans and Jackson surpasses that of any rivalry in UFC history. At the same time, he thinks the feelings each has for the other goes beyond just hatred.

“I think they both respect each other in ways but they just don’t like each other. Listen, you can respect a guy’s game and his fighting style and what he’s going to bring to the table that night. Doesn’t mean you have to like him, though,” said White.

True, said Evans. No matter what else he thinks of an opponent, he’ll give him respect for stepping into the Octagon.

“You fight and you give it all you got, you kind of exchange something with the person you fight. And you kind of leave your spirit on them a little bit and that’s something you can always respect,” he said.

“So I don’t think that I’ll be like, ‘Oh, man. I hate his ass. I don’t like him and I’ll never like him.’ I’m sure if he whoop me or I whoop him, I’m sure we’ll probably fight again and we’ll probably pick up right where we left off. But for the most part, after the fight is over, we’ll probably be cool for a minute.”

Maybe not, if you ask Jackson. Usually, he treats a fight as a way to get paid - nothing more, nothing less, nothing personal.

“But this is the first time I’m actually going to enjoy beating the hell out of somebody.”

Both men have talked the talk. But at UFC 114, says Evans, only one of them will leave with bragging rights.

“The best thing about this is we’ll see in two weeks. That’s the best thing about all of this (expletive) talking right now,” said Evans.

“Everything we saying right now, the best thing about it, we get to see in two weeks.”

Source: VancouverSun.com – 19th May 2010