Wanderlei’s Rampage
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The year is coming to a close and UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 is rapidly approaching. The UFC will give
their fans a holiday present, as we will see three major bouts each worthy of
the main event spot. We’ll see Forrest
Griffin make his first title defense against another graduate from the Ultimate Fighter reality show, Rashad
Evans. In addition, Antonio “Minotauro”
Nogueira will face Frank Mir in a heavyweight bout for the interim title. To add to the excitement of this card, fans
will be treated to the third chapter in one of the biggest feuds that started
back in Pride Fighting Championships. Old
wounds will rip open as “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva collides with Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson
in what promises to be the most explosive bout of the evening. Before we get into the breakdown for the
Silva vs Jackson
fight, let’s turn back the clock and review our history notes.
Since returning to the UFC, Wanderlei Silva has managed to
entertain fans with two impressive fights.
He was involved in a slugfest with former light heavyweight kingpin
Chuck Liddell (UFC 79) and owns an impressive knockout over Keith Jardine (UFC
84). The casual MMA viewer may not be
acquainted with Silva’s tremendous past, but it is safe to say that he is an
icon in the sport of MMA. Silva made his
first MMA appearance on November
1st, 1996 at Brazilian
Vale Tudo 6, where he defeated Dilson Filho via KO in the first round. After appearances in IVC and the UFC, Silva
would go on to reach legendary status during his tenure in Pride Fighting
Championships. Arguably the most
successful champion in Pride, Silva maintained an undefeated streak from August
of 2000 until December 2004 (1 No contest, 1 draw) when he was defeated by Mark
Hunt via split decision. During his
undefeated streak, Silva won the coveted Pride Middleweight Championship in
November of 2001 at Pride 17, in a bout against “The Gracie Killer” Kazushi
Sakuraba. Silva would make numerous
title defenses, until February 2007 in a bout against top contender Dan Henderson,
a man he had once beaten at the start of his career in Pride. To hold a championship for seven years is no
easy task, but the former Chute Boxe fighter managed to do so with a statement. Silva became an instant fan favourite due to
his aggressive KO deliveries from the Muay Thai clinch, and his trademark stare
downs prior to a fight.
Before Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was the UFC’s light heavyweight
champion, he was showcasing his impressive wrestling skills in a little
promotion in the land of the rising sun called Pride Fighting
Championships. It was here that this Memphis born wrestler
gained notable victories over a number of top fighters such as Kevin Randleman,
Chuck Liddell and the victory he is famous for, a knockout over Ricardo Arona
via powerbomb! It wasn’t until Jackson reached the UFC
that he managed to acquire the gold. Upon
his arrival in the UFC, Jackson
managed to avenge a loss against Marvin Eastman (UFC 67). He then went on to take the UFC light
heavyweight title from Chuck Liddell after an impressive knockout (UFC 71). Jackson
was on a role and in his first title defense; he unified the UFC light
heavyweight title and Pride middleweight title by defeating Dan Henderson at
UFC 75: Champion vs Champion.
A majority of fighters have respect for each other in and
out of the ring; however the Silva / Jackson
saga paints a different portrait. The
conflict began following Jackson’s
win over Kevin Randleman at Pride 25. Jackson called out Silva,
and declared that Silva was only holding onto his belt, “keeping it warm for
him.” This was obviously taken as a sign of disrespect, as it prompted Silva to
enter the ring and shove Jackson
while proclaiming that he (Silva) was the true champion of the middleweight
division. In what appeared to be
something taken straight out of pro wrestling, officials quickly broke up the confrontation
before it escaladed. After the incident,
heated words were exchanged and both individuals have gone on record, stating
that the tension between the two is in fact very real (still continues to this
Naturally this rivalry lead to the first installment of the
Silva vs Jackson trilogy on November 9th 2003 at Pride Final Conflict, Jackson was riding
a seven fight win streak and Silva with twelve straight victories. In this fight, we saw Silva immediately jump on
Jackson with a standing guillotine that forced Jackson to the
ground. Jackson managed to display his superior
wrestling skills by controlling Silva while administering a little ground and
pound. However once the referee stood up
the fight, the wrestler was taken out of his element, as he was overwhelmed
with a barrage of hard knees to the body and the head. Silva had conquered Jackson in their first bout, but shortly after
a rematch would take place. This added
fuel to the fire for Silva’s camp and the detestation intensified; as they felt
a rematch was not necessary due to Silva’s dominate performance in their first
encounter. Nonetheless it was at Pride 28: High Octane, where these two
warriors would go head to head. History
seemed to have repeated itself, as Jackson
managed to take Silva down a number of times and control him on the
ground. Jackson put forth a better stand up game, as
he knocked Silva down with a right, but this was not enough to put the champion
away. Shortly after, Silva verified why
he was the superior fighter. He
connected with his looping punches and high knees. Jackson
was knocked out, as he dropped and his body hung stiff on the bottom rope. Following the performance, commentator Mauro
Ranallo put it best as he said, “does anyone possess the kryptonite to stop
Pride’s middleweight superman!” Fans saw
a virtually unbeatable Wanderlei Silva top his biggest adversary for the second
time.
Fast forward now to 2008, it is four years later and one has
to think that within this period, each of these fighters have gone through
changes and it is possible that we will see a different kind of fight on
December 27th.
Looking at Jackson,
he has definitely improved since his days in Pride. Jackson
still possesses his phenomenal wrestling skills and explosive takedowns and
this will certainly be to his advantage. We know that Silva’s clinch is top notch, and
if Jackson has
a chance against it, he’ll have to take Silva down hard and punish him on the ground;
or he’ll have to create the distance and use his reach for a knockout. Thus Silva will have to respect Jackson’s heavy hands
considering his knockout over Liddell (which is something Silva was not able to
do). Jackson
has made the jump to Wolfslair
MMA Academy
following his most recent loss and the fallout with Juanito Ibarra. His current teammates have stated that fans
will see a new focused Jackson. However this year, Jackson has been involved in a number of
incidents surrounding his trainers and of course who could forget the police
chase. One has to question if in fact he
will be in top mental form. I believe
that although he will put the effort in training, these personal problems will have
an effect on him, and it’s possible that he may have some jitters upon entering
the octagon. Despite these issues, the
biggest mental disadvantage comes from the fact that he will be facing a
fighter he genuinely dislikes, who has devastated him twice
before (this has got to get under your skin). Clearly the mental edge is in Silva’s
favour.
For Wanderlei Silva, it will be interesting to see if he
will try to KO Jackson with the knees from the clinch, if successful, one can
only imagine that this would add insult to injury. Upon training with Xtreme Couture, Silva has
worked expansively on his wrestling and ground game. I believe this is a positive note since he
will have to look for ways to neutralize Jackson’s
wrestling. In terms of the stand up, before
you get to the clinch, you must cut the distance. Although Silva also holds knockout power, Jackson possesses better
movement and the slicker technical striking.
I believe Silva will have to play it smart and look for Jackson to feed him an
opening, so that he can get in close with his wild strikes and eventually
clinch with him for a KO. (Just a thought, where does Jackson go if he loses? Maybe a fight with
either Shogun Rua or Lyoto Machida?)
Nonetheless Silva has looked impressive upon returning to
the UFC, and if he comes into the octagon in the same state he was in for the
Jardine fight, I believe it will be lights out for Jackson.
Silva seems to have a set focus and his eye on the light heavyweight
title. It would only be fitting for this
Pride legend, to defeat his biggest foe for the third time and move on to
receive a title shot in 2009. MMA
enthusiasts in the United
States have quickly adapted Silva as a crowd
favourite due to his desire to “make a good show for the fans.” It’s been proven that a 32 year old Wanderlei
Silva can still continue to deliver exciting fights in what is considered to be
the UFC’s marquee division. That being
said, I think it’s pretty obvious who I predict to win this fight, Sandstorm +
shaved head = KO’d opponent.
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