“Rampage” fired up for TUF 10 and a crack at Evans

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By Thomas Gerbasi

There was no one cheering louder during the main event last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas than former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson. In fact, Rashad Evans even told UFC President Dana White that the only thing he could hear in the arena was Jackson coaching him.

But Jackson wasn’t just trying to help out a fellow fighter; he was trying to will him to victory against Lyoto Machida because he wanted the next shot at him. It wasn’t meant to be though, as Evans got knocked out in the second round of the UFC 98 main event.

“I wasn’t happy to see him get knocked out because I wanted to be the first one to knock him out,” said Jackson during a media teleconference Thursday. “I’m kinda jealous of Machida with that, but that’s what he gets for running his mouth.”

Jackson will get his wish though. Despite being next in line for a shot at the new champ, Jackson has instead opted for a late-2009 fight with Evans, which will be preceded by a six week coaching stint with his rival on the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

“Dana told me I could fight whoever, and I had my mind set to fight Evans,” said ‘Rampage.’

According to White, the result of Saturday’s bout didn’t sway Jackson’s desire to fight Evans in the least.

“He told me, ‘This is personal,” recalled the UFC boss. “‘The title’s gonna be there. Whether Machida fights again and keeps the title or loses it, I’m going after the title, but I want to kick Rashad’s ass.’”

“When somebody says that to me,” said White. “I’m in. I want to give guys fights that they’re fired up for, motivated for, and excited for. Rampage is really motivated and fired up to fight Rashad Evans for getting in his face. He’s upset about it, and I know that Rashad would like to fight Rampage too.”

The feud between the two 205-pound standouts began at UFC 96, when Evans and Jackson went nose to nose in the Octagon after Rampage’s win over Keith Jardine. A jaw injury prevented Jackson from challenging for Evans’ title at UFC 98, but he’ll be ready to go later this year. In fact, the Memphis native is happy for the extended break.

“To be honest, I wanted to sharpen up some of my skills,” said Jackson, who has won two in a row since losing the light heavyweight title to Forrest Griffin in July of 2008. “I want to get my wrestling and ground game back up to par, and this gives me the time to heal up. I trained really hard for the Wanderlei (Silva) fight and then went right back into training for Jardine. This gives me time to kick it with my kids and sharpen up my skills. This is my job, this is my life, and I want to put the best foot forward and I want to be the best champion that ever lived.”

He also promises a return of his trademark slams.

“I haven’t been slamming people in a while,” he said. “I want to get back to slamming people and I want to be more unpredictable. That’s what’s got me this far, I was unpredictable back in the day. When I work on something and I find a love for something, I stick to it. So I was trying to box people and knock everybody out. Now I’m working on everything – I’m not just sticking to one thing. I want to be the Ultimate Fighter, the guy who can do everything – like GSP, baby.”

But first there’s the business of coaching on TUF, which will feature all heavyweights for its tenth season. Both Evans and Jackson are familiar with the series, Evans as the heavyweight winner of season two, and Jackson as the coach of season seven. And though no one from Jackson’s team won the seventh season, his fighters CB Dollaway, Matt Riddle, and Dan Cramer are still on the UFC roster, and he still remains close with other members of the squad, so considering that (and his coaching nemesis), the decision to return was a fairly easy one.

“Everybody knows that I don’t like coaching because I am a sore loser when it comes to stuff like that,” he said. “I said I’d never coach again, but I have a good relationship with my first team, and this time I want to go out there and I want to win, and when I found out who I’d be coaching against, I couldn’t turn it down. Rashad left a bad taste in my mouth. He got up in my face with his bad-ass breath and I’m from Memphis – we don’t like that.”

Sounds like an interesting season to say the least, and White says there are more surprises coming.

“I think season 10’s gonna be the highest rated season in Ultimate Fighter history,” he said.

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights premieres on Spike TV at 10pm on Wednesday, September 16th.

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