At UFC 92 on Saturday, the most exciting fight on the card might not be one of the two title fights. While Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin's fight for the light heavyweight title should be a good one, and the interim heavyweight title fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir also looks to be a great fight.
The best, however, just might be the one with the most history behind it. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva will face off for the 3rd time on Saturday, and there is quite a bit of contempt between the two of them.
Silva is one of the nicest guys in mixed martial arts. I've seen in person where he has stayed for an hour after an event, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. I also happened to go to the same restaurant as him after the fight, and I saw people coming up to him throughout his meal, asking for autographs and pictures. If people were doing that to me, I would have flipped out probably 10 minutes after I got there. Not Wanderlei, though. He was polite to every single fan, and was gracious throughout the whole ordeal.There's one person who really makes Wanderlei Silva mad, however, and that's the man he'll be fighting at UFC 92. He has nothing nice to say about Rampage and his antics:
“There are very few people I don’t like. Very few. Honestly. But of course, I don’t like this guy. I just don’t care for him. He jokes at bad moments. He’s not the kind of guy I like. And so I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to fight him again. Every fighter wants to be [the champion] and I am no different, but whether I am champion or not, nothing has made me work harder and train better than the opportunity to fight this guy again. And you know what? I don’t just want to beat him. I want to knock him out. Of course, I always go for the knockout, but with this guy, this is very important to punish him and get that kind of a finish. It’s going to be a great fight.”
Silva has won both of their previous matchups in rather convincing style, despite taking a few early beatings from Rampage. Both fighters need a win in this one in order to get a title shot on 2009. Rampage better change his tactics from their first two fights, because his method of blocking Wanderlei's knees with his face didn't work too well for him before. And he better believe that Silva is coming back with the knees.
“I think he’ll remember my knees. My knees were very good. I don’t think he’s ever forgotten those knees. But I don’t have just knees. I can fight him many different ways. My preparation for this fight, it’s better than ever. My cardio, my mental training, my attention to the smallest things, I have worked so hard on all of them. I want to give the best show ever and I want him to remember me forever.”
Their first fight:
Their second fight:
In the other fights, Forrest Griffin will defend his light heavyweight title against Rashad Evans, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will defend his interim heavyweight title against Frank Mir.
Griffin won the title by beating Quinton Jackson earlier this year in a 5-round unanimous decision. He will fight Evans in his first title defense since becoming the champ. Evans' last fight was a knockout win over Chuck Liddell. Evans is undefeated at 17-0-1, with his only draw coming to Tito Ortiz. Griffin lost to Ortiz in a controversial split decision in 2006. Many people felt that Griffin actually deserved the win in that one.
In the co-main event and other title fight, Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will fight for the interim heavyweight title, as well as the chance to fight Brock Lesnar for the heavyweight belt that he won from Randy Couture. Mir beat Lesnar in his last fight, and Nogueira is undefeated so far (2-0) in the UFC. Nogueira won the interim championship in a fight against Tim Sylvia while Randy Couture was taking some time off.
If you're watching UFC 92 on PPV, then hopefully this card will be as good as the hype. Watch the title fights, but definitely don't miss Rampage vs Silva. That should be the fight of the night.
‘Rampage’ evokes rare anger from Silva [Yahoo!]
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