UFC 130: Bark was bigger than Rampage's bite
"I was a 5 out of 10 (on a scale)," Jackson said after his bout. Jackson also revealed he fought with a fractured hand. Once again Jackson's bark was bigger than his bite.
With back-to-back subpar fights, the question remains, "Is he worthy of a title shot against light-heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones?"
With Jackson revealing his injury the decision to fight Jones next my not be in the cards for him.
In the first round, Hamill started with leg kicks. He was taking a page from Forrest Griffin, who took Rampage's title after repeatedly leg-kicking him for five rounds. But on this night, Jackson looked much sharper with his boxing and Hamill looked puzzled.
In the second round, Jackson connected with a right hook and once again stopped Hamill from taking him down. Hamill was a step slower than Jackson throughout the bout.
Hamill tried a superman punch in the third round followed by another half-hearted takedown attempt. But clearly, Hamill had no chance of getting a takedown, which was his only chance of winning this bout. The final bell drew boos from the crowd as both fighters walked back to their corners exhausted.
All three judges scored the bout 30-27 for Jackson. Even though Jackson won, his performance should have him fighting another opponent (maybe Mauricio “Shogun” Rua) before he gets a title shot.
UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill, took place at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena and aired on pay-per-view, Spike TV and Facebook. UFC is the top sports social media company in the world. No other sports company executive uses twitter like UFC President Dana White. Before the fights, he tweets to his 1.4 million followers that, "Reminder everyone. We go live on PPV in 30 mins!"
The full undercard results:
Renan Barao defeatd Cole Escovedo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Michael McDonald beats Chris Cariaso by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28).
Gleison Tibau deafeats Rafaello Oliveira by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:28 in the 2nd round.
Tim Boetsch beats Kendall Grove by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson defeats Miguel Torres by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Main bouts:
Brian Stann defeats Jorge Santiago by TKO (punches) at 4:29 in the 2nd round.
Rick Story beats Thiago Alves by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Travis Browne defeats Stefan Struve by knockout (punch) at 4:11 in the 1st round.
Frank Mir beats Roy Nelson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
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Comments
I think Rampage is so hot, even when he loses I think he's cute. I'm his number 1 fan!
Posted by: Maryella | May 29, 2011 9:59 AM
I disagree that Rampage could have done better. What this fight showed is that Matt Hamill is a tough fighter that can take incredibly hard shots. Rampage hit him with enough power to knock anyone fighter in the world out and Matt kept coming at him.
MMATheHardWay-
Rampage said himself that he was a 5 out of 10. That was his words not mine.
Posted by: MMATheHardWay | May 29, 2011 3:34 PM
I think Rampage will give Jones a good fight especially as a counter striker I think he’ll be able to land at least something. He looked good, he mixed it up a lot more a couple of takedowns may have been a good thing to do too.
Posted by: Make Money For Free | May 30, 2011 1:55 AM