"Rampage" On The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

Here is Quinton Jackson's appearance on Jay Leno from last night in case you missed it. Page went up after funny man Jonah Hill who looked a bit shook by Jackson's presence. Quinton is a truly charismatic person and it shows here in the interview, like Rogan said Rampage could moonlight as a comedian if he so pleased.



Part II of the Interview after the jump....

Which Rampage Will Show Up Versus Evans?

An 18 month layoff is a long one no matter how you slice it and Quinton Jackson has to come back from that to face the former Light-Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. As I see it Rampage takes this fight more than he doesn't. Having said that I have to question a couple of things after watching the "Primetime" series leading up to the meeting of the former Champions. First, who is Page sparring with at Wolfslair that can be anything like the physical athlete that Rashad is? Secondly, how much of an effect will the long layoff and scuffles with the UFC brass have on Page and his mindset?

In the UFC primetime show we saw Quinton's frustration with his sparring partners and how they could do nothing to push the fighter in training. Absolutely no disrespect to Wolfslair as they do have a great cast of up and comers as well as a few established stars like Bisping to their credit, but what heavyweights or light heavyweights do they have to prepare Jackson? I would be surprised if anyone but maybe Bisping has given him a run for his money in sparring, and that may be a stretch. Juanito Ibarra for all his flaws at least had Page's boxing game in tip top form and had him surrounded by name fighters in Big Bear, CA. Furthermore going up against Rashad Evans, Rampage finds himself up against one of the best wrestlers in the game right now and Page is training in the UK where they are notoriously behind the times in terms of their wrestling.

Page has recently re-expressed his dissatisfaction with the UFC and even said that he is no longer "proud" to be called a UFC fighter. He also voiced the fact that yes he did re-sign with them, bit they have already come back and disrespected him (see video above via fighters only mag). That kind of turbulence with his employer may have had some effect on his mentality coming into the fight especially coming in off of a long layoff from the fight game while he parlayed his acting skills in the new A-Team movie.

All in all this article will probably be for naught as Page has come out on top in the game more often than not, and I see the Rashad fight no differently. As you can probably tell I am a big Rampage fan and have been for a long time, so my impartiality is skewed when discussing any fight that Quinton is in. Aside from the fan-boy in me that owns a round 5 figurine of Page and still reminisces about the monster slams in his Pride days, looking on the fight from the outside I see Quinton's skill set and heart to be too much for Evans. For someone who was rocked by Thiago Silva and rode out a boring decision win, Quinton would have knocked Shad "clean-out" as Jackson would say.

"Rampage" and Rashad Finally Make it Official

The UFC today announced that they will indeed have Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans face off at UFC 114 on May 9th in Las Vegas. The heated rivalry will headline the card that is also rumoured to have another Light-heavyweight showdown between Forrest Griffin and  Antonio Rogerio Nogeuira. Jackson and Evans, as you all know, have had a healthy disrespect and hatred for one another ever since there meeting after Rampage's win over teammate Keith Jardine.

Somebody Shit, I Smelt It!

TUF 7

Awsome start to the show with the tournament format giving us a full hour of fights, and that looks to be the case for the next episode as well. Speaking of the next episode the preview promises the most violent knockout in the history of the show, and the screams from the ambulance were alarming. We also got to see why the middleweight signed by EliteXC was let go from the UFC, he didnt lose the fight, but he bored the shit out of Dana White with a lay and pray victory. this season will be one of the most entertaining with the personalities of Rampage and Forrest you cant go wrong.

Round 5 MMA Toys

You can pre-order them for shipment in April apparently over at Round5MMA.com. Kind of cool for your desk at work or what have you!