[MMA] Hype

Barack Obama hopes things up, and MMA fans hype things up, which is usually what the promotions like to see. The more hype surrounding a fight, the more viewers. The more viewers, the more money comes in. The more money the promotion gets, the more they can pay out to the fighters. Here’s my hype. :)

.: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
When Rampage was first introduced to the UFC, the UFC had just bought up Pride FC and totted him as the best thing since sliced bread. His debut came at UFC 68 where he fought Marvin Eastman, who gave him his first professional loss in King of the Cage 4, back in 2000. He came in with a professional record of 25-6-0, which is pretty good. He went on to knock out Marvin Eastman, followed by a TKO over Chuck Liddell and a decision win over Dan Henderson. His win over Liddell gave him the Light Heavyweight (LHW) belt, which he successfully defended. Then came Forrest Griffin who came in with an excellent gameplan, taking out Rampage’s lead leg with some well placed, brutal low kicks, simultaneously taking out his ability to shoot and nullifying Rampage’s underrated wrestling ability. Forrest Griffin won a controversial decision win and took Rampage’s belt, and then shit started to get weird.

On July 15th, 2008, Rampage was arrested on suspicion of felony reckless driving, several felony hit and runs, and about a dozen traffic violations. He had stepped into his lifted Ford F-350 (with his image splattered all over the side, so that there’s no mistake about it) and basically went on a rampage (no pun intended.) Have you ever seen one of those police car chases? That’s basically what it was, but this one involved a monster truck, the driver of which, it later turned out, hadn’t slept in days, was depressed over losing his LHW title, and hadn’t eaten in days, slipping into a delirium. Bad news for Rampage, which is a shame, because he’s an entertaining fighter, and probably one of the kindest and funniest prominent MMA fighters in the business.

Because he’s such a character, witty and funny in interviews (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on Jimmy Kimmel Live 06-04-2008), he’s definitely a casual fan’s favourite. The hardcore fan probably remembers the way he knocked out Ricardo Arona with a slam in Pride in 2004. (Watch the slam here.) They would also know that Rampage can’t be counted out, certainly now that he’s revitalised his game by switching camps, leaving Juanito Ibera for the Wolf’s Lair. But then, he did already have two previous fights with Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, both of which he lost. To quote an article I read recently, “Silva has beaten Jackson twice, the second time so brutally that Jackson’s camp probably could’ve gotten away with pressing charges.”

.: Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva
Wanderlei Silva came into the UFC with a professional record of 31-7-1, and due to his poor grasp on the English language wasn’t hyped as much as Rampage was. An American fighter was just more marketable than a Brazilian fighter, regardless of their fluency in the English language. Wanderlei was a very popular fighter in Pride FC because of his hyper aggressive style of fighting. The Japanese always seemed to care less about winners and losers and more about exciting fights, and Wanderlei delivered those better than anyone else. The brutality with which he fought, the intensity of his staredowns became legendary, and he became the prow of the Chute Box academy, a famous Brazilian camp that produced other notables like Fabricio Werdum, Mauricio Rua, Murilo Rua and Gabriel Gonzaga. All of those guys are known for their aggressive style, and most of them got in the game by way of Brazilian, bare-knuckle, Vale Tudo matches, where almost everything is allowed. (Barring fish hooking, eye gouging, crotch shots, etc.) The evidence of this Vale Tudo background is evident on Wanderlei’s face; scar-tissue everywhere!

His introduction into the UFC was against Chuck Liddell, which he lost by decision, but it was an interesting fight. He had already come off of two back-to-back losses, so people were starting to wonder if his time had passed. He proved everyone wrong when he dismantled Keith Jardine in 36 seconds in his next fight, proving once again that he might not win them all, but he delivers a damn entertaining fight.

.: Rampage vs The Axe Murderer III
BJ Penn vs Georges St. Pierre II might be the next big fight coming up, or perhaps Antonio Nogueira vs Frank Mir, and definitely Andrei Arlovski vs Fedor Emelianenko is going to be a huge fight, but I can’t wait for the Rampage-Wanderlei fight, because you just know that there’s going to be fireworks.

Here’s a hype video I found that, after watching it, made me think that while Rampage might do well at the bookmakers, Wanderlei will go three for three against Rampage.