UFC 96 Preview: "Rampage" Jackson and Shane Carwin

If we’re comparing quality wins as opposed to how fighters skills match up, Rampage blows away Machida when it comes to quality wins.

Rampage is the one dude that isn’t overrated.

Rampage was the guy Liddel was supposed to tear through on his way to make the Wandy Chuck match happen. At the time it was thought that no one could get by Chuck. If you have the chance to watch that one again, do so. It’s insane how badly Page beats Chuck in hand speed, control, and footwork.

His match against Forrest is his only blip, and he was noticeably not fighting to his potential. I cannot wait for Rampage vs Evans, and then Machida. Any three of these dudes, IMO, can beat each other on any given night 50/50. I think it mostly depends on who has the best gameplan because the natural talents/strengths of these fights all nullify each other. Throw Anderson in that mix and make a four man tourney makes my mouth water. I could watch those four match and re-match for years and be happy.

The fact that Liddel’s ribs were red means that they were slapped a couple times and nothing more. Give your brother or wife a couple of harmless play slaps in the ribs and they’ll go red just like Liddels’ were. Rogan played that up a little bit, and I’m not saying they weren’t good kicks, they just weren’t devestating. They didn’t seem to affect Liddel’s style throughout the fight. Also, Jardine caught Liddel flush on the chin and it didn’t even drop him (just sort of stumbled him). So yeah, Jardine hits hard relative to average people I agree, but relative to known power hitters like Page and Jackson and Wandy, nope. He’s not in the same league. If you watch Jardine punch, he’s more doing it for points and tactical positioning/keeping his opponents off balance (which he did to Chuck for 3 rds. He punches and kicks to keep his opponent at bay. He doesn’t put his hips into it which minimizes power but also minimizes risk. He typically retreats right after his punch kick combos.

If you compare his leg kicks with, say, Thiago Alves vs Koscheck. You can feel Alves’ whole body force going into the kick as he swivels his hips. From what I can see of Jardine’s, he doesn’t shift his hips forward when he throws the kicks, but keeps them back as a defensive measure. Jardine fights for points winning rounds and hopes to find an opening where he can come in with flurries of punches.

One thing I’ll say for sure. No way Jardine puts Jackson to sleep unless he gets a clean high kick to the head and then lands more afterwards. Even then, Pages noggin is one of the best.