The Case for Rampage Jackson
by Luke Thomas on Feb 25, 2009 10:14 AM EST
in MMA News
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Michael David Smith: When I look at the stylistic matchup between you and Rampage, I think the advantage you have is that you can use kicks effectively to pick him apart from distance, whereas the advantage Rampage has is his punching power. Do you think that's true?
Keith Jardine: I don't know, we'll see who has the better punching power. He's put a lot of guys to sleep, but I've done pretty well myself, so we'll see about that. I look forward to finding out. I'm not ready to concede that he has better punching power.
So you think if you and Rampage are exchanging strikes, you can come out of that exchange ahead?
Absolutely.
Jardine's open style causes him to have inconsistent performances aganst top competitors and his chin appears to be tappable to those in the elite class with elite power who work close range. So whether Jardine has the overall skills to challenge Rampage in the stand-up isn't necessarily related to punching power and not the issue. As Michael David Smith suggests, a fighter like Jardine who is good at utilizing range is best served not trading with a fighter like Rampage who is clearly the more powerful puncher and can take advantage of Jardine's liabilities. If Jardine believes he can get on the inside and work from the pocket reliably over the course of the fight, there is a more than decent probability he is going to sleep.
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Maybe I have missed some of "my pretty's" fights
but I can only remember him finishing Forrest. Where is this punching power he is talking about?
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
He floored Bonnar and Liddell as well, but most of his striking victories come at the expense of lesser tier fighters.
by Luke Thomas on Feb 25, 2009 10:10 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I guess that is power somewhat.
I was just equating punching power to KO’s. Thanks Luke.
By the way, I see Page winning via brutal God’s Street Soldier Initiation.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
whatever… i’m done betting against greg jackson’s fighters…
they’re like a poker hand that wins 51% of the time (except they win a lot more than that)… the right thing to do is play the hand every time… unless you know something others don’t… which i do not.
but god damnit, it seems like they do.
Rampage is in his prime & will not allow
another fight to go to the judges so I do not believe that leg kicks will be enough to get Jardine thru. I love what Greg Jackson & his fighters do & I am sure they will have a good gameplan in principal, but implementing that gameplan with effectiveness & avoiding damage is another thing.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
Not allowing the fight to go to the judges seems like a good way to lose. Sometimes, a decision is what happens.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
What I meant was
that Rampage has more than likely been preparing for leg kicks & after the Forrest fight he will go for the finish & not simply try to outpoint Jardine.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
Especially now that he’s training at the MT-heavy Wolf’s Lair. I think Bisping is over hyped but his standup is pretty nimble, so I’m hoping he’ll have been taught the footwork to handle the kicks, but who knows.
Incorporating kick -checks into his boxing footwork will either be a problem or the coolest solution in MMA.
The “dean of mean” will be taking a little canvas nap in this fight. 1st rd KO. Does he not know Rampage has gotten his wolf on?
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
Jardine needs to give in to the power that is Technoviking.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
So he needs to become a devotee of Pat Barry?
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 25, 2009 12:36 PM EST up reply actions
Pat Berry follows the teachings of Technoviking, but he is not him. Jardine needs to follow the example given by Berry, and let the dance flow through him. That and protect dancing girls from pervs.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
Your readings of the texts are flawed heretic! The Berry is an emanation, a Kabbalic Sephirot if you will, of the cosmic technoviking. His mastery of the dance is the material instantiation of the viking’s ways and his leg kicks are divine retribution to pervs that would bug dancing gals.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 25, 2009 1:06 PM EST up reply actions
Pat Berry has come to this earth to provide an example to Jardine. Jardine refuses to follow his divine destiny.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
I’m personally hoping Jardine is faking us all out and is currently practicing his moves in front of his bedroom mirror so that he can show us the way of TECHNOVIKING at 96.
by Michaelthebox on Feb 25, 2009 2:08 PM EST up reply actions
Pat Berry is an avatar of the techno-viking. Not in the internet picture way. In the Krishna sense.
Never thought I’d get to use that meaning of the word avatar on BE.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
And the Techno-Viking is Brahman, rather than Vishnu.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 25, 2009 5:15 PM EST up reply actions
i hope the betting odds are relatively close
because i can’t see a scenario where this doesn’t get really ugly for the dean, jackson trained or not.
This sounds like head games to me...
I really think if Greg Jackson has been watching tape and analyzing Rampage, he’ll look at Griffin vs. Jackson and see what type of gameplan will really work on Rampage.
Jardine utilizes kicks rather well, and Rampage had some terrible problems in that Griffin fight. I’d be surprised if Jardine wasn’t employing that type of gameplan for most of the fight. I just don’t see how he could ever want to get in a power striking war with Jackson when Jackson is fairly technical in some of his striking. There is no way in hell that Greg Jackson is telling Jardine to to that. I just can’t see it happening.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
That’s what I thought. There’s no way one of the guys who recently helped come up with a gameplan that required a PhD in human physiology would let Jardine go in there with nothing more than “you hit ghud, do dat.”
Jardine might go in there, try to exchange up close, and get brutally KO’d, but that can’t be the plan.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 25, 2009 12:42 PM EST up reply actions
It's a coin toss this time around
Rampage has Kongo as his training partner and Dave Jackson (muay thai) and Mario Sukata (BJJ) as his coaches. With Kongo, he has to manhandle a fighter whom is taller and heavier than him, with enormous reach. He should have the necessary tools to deal with Jardine.
The flip-side to that is that Jardine has Rashad, Marquardt and GSP to draw on, to name but a few. He’ll be pushed in his camp to levels that should see him able to weather the Rampage storm – not to mention that, if Greg Jackson can come up with a gameplan that Jardine can stick to and execute, he could easily pull a win here.
On a personal level – I’ve met both fighters and their coaches and they’re all great guys. I really can’t call this one on either a professional or personal level. I’d be as well tossing that coin…
by VikingPhotography on Feb 25, 2009 10:41 AM EST reply actions
rashad, marquardt nor gsp have the sort of techincal boxing + pure power that rampage has
i think people are over reacting to the leg kick thing. i don’t think jardine is nearly as long or tall as forrest. +… jardine has to survive 3 round without getting hit hard
jardine is talented… but this is the jardine that got beat my houston, wand, and went to a decision with brandon vera for christs sakes.
his wins over forrest and lidell are impressive… but that forrest wasn’t the same forrest that beat shogun and rampage and that lidell was definitely not the lidell of old as we have learned
I think this a bit of a wishful assessment. There may not be a pure power guy at Jackson’s gym like Rampage, but Jardine isn’t exactly the type of guy to stand and trade with Rampage from a technical standpoint. Most of his crushing losses come from aggressive rushes by fighters in which he gets caught. I don’t see Jardine trying to technically outbox Rampage in this fight. I think it’s more of a reach issues and moving in and out of the pocket.
Can he do that? That remains to be seen. I don’t think the leg kick analysis is off at all because Rampage showed signs of it detering his progress in the Griffin fight quite early. The kicks will slow Rampage’s ability to move in and throw blows, and I think that should be one sticking point Greg Jackson should engrave in Jardine’s brain.
I think one gameplan that Rampage could impose is an aggressive stance from the start. If he can’t manage to KO him with an initial rush, get ready for a standup chess match.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Feb 25, 2009 10:59 AM EST up reply actions
I agree with your point about the leg kicks,
but do we really think Rampage’s camp has not addressed that flaw? Especially seeing that his opponent implements kicks so much in his gameplan. I would be extremely shocked & disappointed if the leg kicks are still a problem for Rampage.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
Well, my question is this… will Rampage quit acting tough and check those kicks? I think he will. In the Griffin fight, he seemed like he was trying to be tough by unchecking those kicks, then Griffin landed one solid on his joint. The bigger problem is that when you’re thinking about checking kicks, you can’t explode with punches as easily, so it deters Rampage to an extent.
Of course, if he times it correctly, he could crush Jardine’s jaw with a blow at the right moment.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Feb 25, 2009 11:12 AM EST up reply actions
well your coin has a heavy side and it would show rampage's head most of the time..
but i am rooting for jardine so i hope im wrong..
http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/
by Anton Tabuena on Feb 25, 2009 10:57 AM EST up reply actions
There is no doubt in my mind, that he has been asked. I mean, it was everywhere.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Feb 25, 2009 11:24 AM EST up reply actions
I doubt Jardine will come in and fight Rampage in the pocket. After what happened to him with Silva, that is probably the last thing he wants to do. I figure all this pocket talk is just pre-fight blabbing. He has a chance to win on points if he fights like he did against Chuck with a tonne of leg kicks and front kicks. Still, I figure he’s going to sleep here. Rampage is just too good.
Jardine has a terrible habit of ending combinations with his head down. I expect him to be drilled with an uppercut in the first round and that will be the end of it.
I fully expect another installment of the “How Not to Punch” series as well.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 25, 2009 1:08 PM EST up reply actions
Jardine's night is going to end the exact same way his combinations typically do-
head down, in the canvas.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
I should also say that the Jackson-as-Yoda thing is probably going too far. I think it’s fair to say that in deciding a fight it’s 95% about the skill of the fighters, and 5% gameplan. When both guys are completely elite, that 5% makes all the difference in the world. But there are some things you can’t make up. Having a very tappable chin against the hardest hitter in the division is one of those things.
Listening to Jackson talk to Luke, it was pretty clear to me he feels the same way. All the physiological strategy in the world wouldn’t beat BJ Penn if GSP didn’t have such incredible wrestling and timing. Strategy is not enough, Jardine is in trouble.
by Michael Rome on Feb 25, 2009 1:14 PM EST up reply actions
Great point,
I respect Greg Jackson tremendously but this is akin to coaching in all sports arenas. It comes down the person executing the gameplan.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
Jardine is very likely going down, but one doesn’t need to be Yoda to realize that he shouldn’t attempt to take a shot to land one against Rampage and that Quinton has trouble checking kicks. Do I think that any strategy will save Jardine? Unlikely. But Jackson has to have done some good gameplanning with Jardine, and the above likely isn’t representative of that strategy.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 25, 2009 1:26 PM EST up reply actions
I really don't see Jardine pulling the upset here...
Of course it’s possible, it’s MMA. I just think that if all of us on here know that Jardine will need to utilize lots of leg kicks to win, Rampage knows too. There is no way that leg kicks will stop the pummeling that Rampage is gonna unleash in this fight. This is Rampages “are you seriously making me fight Keith Jardine right now?” fight.
Not sure how long this logic will hold up
but I think I may give the edge to Jardine here.
He is the classic spoiler. He can’t get that necessary win to move himself to the next level, but he always seems to get the win that derails or slow someone else’s career progresson.
Griffin
Liddell
Vera
All matches that they other guy probably needed more than he did.
Alexander
Wandy
Both matches that stopped his upward momentum.
Good line of thought,
but Vera did not need that fight as much as Jardine did? And Chuck was done & just looking to hang on, so spoiling that was really not too much to do.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
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