The Atlantic Profiles Rampage Jackson

by Michael Rome on Dec 2, 2008 6:19 PM EST in News Comment 24 comments

A humongous, fascinating profile piece from The Atlantic:

He puts his face up close to mine. His eyes are tightly focused, and the wheels inside his head are spinning too fast. "Just watch my next fight and you’ll be drooling," he says. "Watch it! The mind is the strongest thing in your body," he adds, reaching out to me with both hands from across the table. "There’s a reason why you only use 10percent of your brain. You got to learn how to use the rest of your brain, homey. Your mind is real strong. Strongest thing I got."

The piece is a look at Rampage's title fight weekend against Forrest Griffin. Well worth reading if you have (a lot of) time.

UPDATE [from Luke Thomas]: The author of this piece also interviews Lorenzo Feritta, Arianny Celeste and BJ Penn. Note to Samuels: Penn did not jump four weight classes to defeat Matt Hughes. He simply jumped one.

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That’s the last magazine I expected this from. Awesome piece – y’all should really click that link.

by subo on Dec 2, 2008 6:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I was wondering when The Atlantic or New Yorker would do a piece like this. They are supposedly magazines reflecting culture in America, and this is now a part of it.

by Michael Rome on Dec 2, 2008 7:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The Atlantic is an awesome magazine and I thought this was an excellent piece. I find the New Yorker to cater to a more elite crowd, which is why I’m probably not a big fan of the New Yorker.

"I'm a man who discovered the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn. That's what kind of man I am." - Ron Burgundy

by monkeyfightclub! on Dec 2, 2008 10:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Elite crowd? Do you not read Hitchens’ literary reviews? If that’s not for the elite, then what is?

by Luke Thomas on Dec 2, 2008 10:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well, Penn went to LHW to fight Machida.

by dualdiagnosis on Dec 2, 2008 7:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

A) Machida is not Hughes and b) that’s three by my count.

by Luke Thomas on Dec 2, 2008 9:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, he messed up.

I’m actually kind of appreciative of the serious tone he took with the sport, so I was willing to let it slip. He does seem to actually know some things to a degree, but he’s surely no expert. But to have such an experienced and well known reporter covering it in such a thoughtful way is great.

The article is definitely creepy in some ways, especially with the Rampage stuff at the end. We’ll see in a few weeks, but you get the feeling watching it that Rampage is being sent to his doom.

by Michael Rome on Dec 2, 2008 9:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I got the EXACT same sense as you. Rampage always seems to squander the upperhand he should have in this match-up.

by Luke Thomas on Dec 2, 2008 9:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It seems he was professional enough to do a lot of research going into the interview(s) but wasn’t exactly a fan prior.

by Simco on Dec 2, 2008 10:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Even though I still believe that Rampage has a good chance of winning the fight against Wandy, that final page makes it seem like we might see Quinton pull a Filho soon.

by Tonley on Dec 2, 2008 10:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The thing that makes me have some faith is the fact that he’s basically training all day every day in a small town in the UK where there’s basically no distraction. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a hungry Rampage come out and destroy Silva.

This is one of the most meaningful fights in a long time. If Rampage suffers a third brutal KO, it’s hard to see him coming back from it anytime soon. If Wanderlei gets knocked out again, well, thats 4 out of 5, and even against elite guys, it kinda cements his position right below the elite.

by Michael Rome on Dec 2, 2008 10:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ah. This guy.

I’ve had to read Samuels before in a graduate seminar on Japanese popular culture. From my initial experiences with the guy, I found his reportage sloppy and irresponsible, even if he was still a good writer.

He wrote a piece on group suicide in Japan (found here: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200705/group-suicide), and while he did a good job detailing how the suicides take place, he didn’t do any real investigating to find the real reasons behind them. He gave only a cursory glance at the cultural and historical significance of suicide in Japan, but then later settled on pointing fingers at a couple of popular subcultures, as if that was the reason why Japanese people were getting together to commit (anonymous) group suicide. His piece came off as more than a little disingenuous and judgmental, like “here I am, the voice of Western reason, and all you young Japanese people are just crazy, stupid, and sad.”

I’ve started reading the Rampage article with trepidation after this initial impression, but as far as I can tell, it’s not all that bad. I’m actually somewhat surprised. It at least seems a little more thoroughly researched than what I had to read of his before. Part of me wonders whether it’s because he’s actually engaged with his subject or (at least this time) can understand what’s being communicated to him without having a translator and cultural adviser by his side.

Here’s to hoping that this keeps up throughout the rest of the interviews.

by ikari47 on Dec 2, 2008 10:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

In his defense, penetrating Japanese culture without continued and meaningful exposure is exceedingly difficult.

by Luke Thomas on Dec 2, 2008 10:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Let me amend this slightly: any complex and large culture (even those more ethnically and socially more homogenous) requires protracted and meaningful exposure.

by Luke Thomas on Dec 2, 2008 11:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good point.

Hating on the media is fashionable and easy. Dude did a pretty good job and should be commended.

"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy

by thetakeover on Dec 2, 2008 11:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed, but I think the emphasis should be more on me finding out he wasn’t as bad as I thought he was, and less on him being too bothered to read up on Japanese post-war history and sociology. I wanted to put my reaction to the pieces in context with what I felt about him before.

Interestingly enough, Samuels came to Japan on a Japan Society fellowship for three months, and what resulted was the article I linked. I agree that three months isn’t forever, especially for someone who doesn’t have any real background in Japan, so I can sympathize a bit. However, three months isn’t a particularly short span either.

Counter to that though, it’s not to say that Samuels is entirely wrong about there being anonymous group suicide in Japan. The why behind it is only shallowly explored in that article, and that’s why I wrote off on it in the first place.

However, this is also why I was surprised to see the detail he put into the Rampage article and how he didn’t bring an overbearing value judgment to MMA. (Maybe he does in his other UFC articles—I’ll know in a bit when I finish them all). It’s my hope that that will keep up, given the way he treated his three month project in Japan, and since this is, after all, The Atlantic.

by ikari47 on Dec 3, 2008 12:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

“There’s a reason why you only use 10percent of your brain. You got to learn how to use the rest of your brain, homey”

A myth started by an American self help guru in the 80’s. Irks me whenever I see it quoted as fact.

I agree with others here that Rampage hasnt seemed the same since his breakdown. He still comes across to me as being very fragile and somehow broken.

Rampage was winning the first round of both his fights with Wandy. hopefully we’ll see him hungry and back on track this time round.

by Benicio on Dec 2, 2008 11:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for pointing this out

Always looking for good long thoughtful pieces about MMA. I don’t mind reading long if it’s good—just print it out and take it to the gym.

"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy

by thetakeover on Dec 2, 2008 11:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

wow, he really doesnt like jenna….

by swiftman on Dec 2, 2008 11:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

while the famous porn star looks ghastly. Her stick-figure legs are covered with tattoos, and a pair of angel wings sprouts from her back. Her eyes make her look like a Siamese cat, less vacant than otherworldly. She talks to Ortiz, greets her fans, looks exasperated, and plays with her hair, but the weird look in her eyes never goes away. It’s like she is looking into an arctic hell where the sun never shines.

Pretty accurate to me ;)

by Benicio on Dec 3, 2008 2:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The Lorenzo interview is fucking great. Seriously, one of the best profiles into his personality we’ve seen.

Observation: turns out he swears, just like Dana!

Also he wants to bring in Rickson Gracie to fight. That was a pretty great response.

by Michael Rome on Dec 3, 2008 3:04 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not as bad as Dana.

by Luke Thomas on Dec 3, 2008 9:25 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Added to the Rampage Vs Silva Link Page.

by Eugene Schelfaut on Dec 3, 2008 3:45 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I really liked it. That guy had access during a strange and interesting period during Jackson’s life and he conveyed his experience as best as he could.

by penxv on Dec 3, 2008 1:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs