LHW on shelf for another 7 months? Rampage, Champ rumored as TUF Coaches.

by Lynchman on May 13, 2009 12:00 PM EDT Comment 20 comments

Not sure how legit it is, but U.K. site MMABay is reporting that Rampage has agreed to once again coach on The Ultimate Fighter.

According to the piece, his opposing coach will be the winner of Machida/Evans, with the bout likely taking place on the New Years card.

Jackson will begin training for the fight back at his UK camp, the Wolfslair MMA Academy, in October to ensure that he has a thorough three months to prepare, making sure he goes into the fight at 100%.

Despite the identity of his opposing coach being in the air at the minute, SPIKE TV officials and “Rampage” himself hope that Rashad Evans comes through at UFC 98 and sets up what could escalate into one of the biggest grudge matches of all time after being separated in the middle of the octagon at UFC 96.

I don't how I feel about this. Personally, I thought Jackson was a fairly poor coach, with Juanito appearing to be the real brains of the Tean Jackson. If so, then we will likely see the same folks Bisping has assisting him.

I wonder if Greg Jackson would act an assistant coach for Rashad? Would he be willing to take that much time away from training other guys? Especially when both Jardine and GSP have bouts coming up later in the summer. The idea of getting to watch Greg and see how he works certaining is intriguing.

This would also provide Rashad with an oppontunity to establish himself as a top star. He would be coming off three wins over top guys and this would give him enough camera time to increase his drawing power.

The prospect of having the belt on the shelf for another seven months is also frustrating, but I hope the UFC lines up some bouts to create clear cut contenders if this rumor is indeed true.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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I hope to God that Rashad wins. Machida on TUF would suck ballz. Like I said if Evans wins this would be a very entertaining season to watch. You know they’re gonna do a UFC Primetime for it too! :)

Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."

by xFenixKnightx on May 13, 2009 12:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dude, ilowyn’s going to kick your ass if he reads this.

by subo on May 14, 2009 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

who is this ilowyn fellow?

And some people just don’t like Machida’s style or how he presents himself. Just like some people don’t like Rashad’s utter lack of class in the middle of a fight. People are allowed to have their own opinions.

A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.

by iiowyn on May 14, 2009 7:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well said....

Utter lack of class, I like the way you phrased that

by soadtrails on May 17, 2009 3:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If MMABAY is reporting it...

I am not believing it. They create a lot false rumors.

by The Legend on May 13, 2009 12:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That is part of why I said I am not sure how legit it is.

But with Rampage now based out of the U.K., they might actually have some actual info.

by Lynchman on May 13, 2009 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Can we make it a unofficial rule to ignore anything MMABAY says?

by Zack Gobie on May 13, 2009 2:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Just remember, even in baseball if you fail seven times you’re still a Hall of Famer.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on May 13, 2009 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seven out of ten, sure. Seven out of seven, not so much.

by subo on May 14, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Questionable Legitimacy

Not sure how legit it is, but U.K. site MMABay is reporting…

Not even a little.

"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard

by Brett Jones on May 13, 2009 3:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If they both win, I would like to see Nate Marquardy and Wandy coach.

by Lynchman on May 13, 2009 3:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

MarquardT.

But Maia/Nate is too far off.

If Vitor does indeed sign with them, Wandy and Vitor would be interesting.

by Lynchman on May 13, 2009 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great, just great. I’m really hoping this one turns out to be false. LHW is at the moment perhaps the most competitive and deepest of UFC weight classes. There is no utterly dominant champion (see: Silva, GSP, Penn) and they have a lot more credible challengers than HW. Holding the title up for seven months for a TV show is always questionable – especially so given how TUF is almost certainly on its last legs – but doing it to the definite flagship division would be pure, utter, total idiocy.

Does an Evans-Rampage grudge match really need TUF to sell it? What can they supposedly achieve with it what couldn’t be achieved without it? The trash talk staredown between Rashad and Rampage after the Jardine fight was eleven kinds of awesome. Holding up the fight for seven months isn’t going to help. If anything, it’ll help people forget just how much bad blood there already is between the two.

If they are really going to keep doing TUF, why on Earth does one of the coaches always have to be the champion?

by lhasafi on May 13, 2009 3:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It doesn’t need TUF to do well, but with TUF they could probably set a new PPV record.

by bigweeze on May 13, 2009 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Evans-Rampage beating Liddell-Ortiz II? Even with TUF? Oh, please…

by lhasafi on May 14, 2009 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually I think that 92 with Evans/Forrest, Nog/Mir and Page/Silva beat Liddell/Ortiz..

As far as TUF being on its last legs, the numbers don’t suggest that. For a basic cable original show, 1.0 rating is considered a hit. TUF also delivers in the key demos of Male 18-49 and Male 18-34. In addition, last season actually delivered the highest ave rating since TUF 5. This season is trending close to that of last season.

As far as what TUF can do for this fight, it will get them more buys. Will it do one million? I don’t think so, but I do think that TUF can get them an extra 100-150k buys.

by Lynchman on May 14, 2009 9:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Am I the only one who would love to see Machida as a TUF coach?

by Jahbulon on May 14, 2009 10:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nope.

A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.

by iiowyn on May 14, 2009 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

2ND nope

by soadtrails on May 17, 2009 3:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I actually...

wouldn’t mind Rampage vs. Rashad/ Lyoto winner for season 10. There’s no clear #1 contender at 205 beside Page, anyway, so it gives some of the contenders (Shogun, Cane, Forrest, Jardine, Vera, etc.) time to sort out the title picture. There are also big names from MW that could potentially have breakout performances (Franklin, Anderson) that might earn them LHW contendership.

Personally, the way i’d like it to play out would be this: Shogun squares off against Cane, and beats him; Forrest beats Anderson, and sends him back to 185; they have a rematch for the next title shot. If Rashad is still champ, then it leaves the possibility of Rashad/ Rua, or a rematch with Forrest. If Lyoto is champ, then it creates the potential for a Forrest/ Machida matchup, or a Shogun/ Machida scrap (if they agree to it). If Page is champ, then he has the options of very high profile rematches with Forrest or Shogun- win/ win.

Just a little dream scenario, but as we all know- nothing ever plays out perfect in MMA.