Rashad Evans expects to fight Lyoto Machida
Despite the announcements at UFC 96 that Rashad Evans would fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson for the title if Rampage managed to defeat Keith Jardine, it looks like it's going to be Lyoto Machida who finally gets the title shot. Sherdog reports:
"As I learned, 'Rampage' might need time off," Evans told the Sherdog Radio Network's "Beatdown" show on Monday. "It'll probably be Lyoto Machida, but I haven't gotten a confirmation on that.""I don't know. I've just got that feeling," said Evans. "Just listening to him when we were in the ring talking he was kind of like, 'Yeah man you're lucky I wasn't 100 percent' and he started making excuses and I was thinking like it sounds like an excuse-fest is about to happen, so I know he ain't going to take no fight with me. He's making excuses now."
And on facing Lyoto Machida:
"The kid's been phenomenal," said Evans. "He's been better than phenomenal. He's been looking better every fight. But that's the fight business. That's the fun part about a fight is the fact that you go in there with an opponent that sometimes seems insurmountable. But then you figure it out and that makes the victory that much sweeter. With that said, there may be some kinks in his armor that I have yet to see that I can exploit when I look at the tapes more closely. Nobody's unbeatable. Machida's been looking slicker than I don't know what, but everybody has a weakness even if you do look slick as oil. Everyone has a weakness."
Ooh, this is exciting. I really hope this happens, because as much as I like Rashad and Rampage, I love Lyoto Machida. Hmm, maybe "love" isn't the right word here. What do you call it when you have a life sized cardboard cutout of somebody and a print of their face on your pillow case?
UFC 96 payouts: Rampage earns $385,000
Here are the UFC 96 payouts, as disclosed by the Ohio Athletic Commission. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson came out on top, making a whopping $385,000 after his $100,000 win bonus and $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus (which also went to Keith Jardine). Though that's nothing compared to what I made on Saturday night: this neat spaceship made out of Legos!
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson -- $325,000 (including $100,000 win bonus)
defeating Keith Jardine -- $55,000
Shane Carwin -- $32,000 (including $16,000 win bonus)
defeating Gabriel Gonzaga -- $60,000
Matt Brown -- $16,000 (including $8,000 win bonus)
defeating Pete Sell -- $12,000
Matt Hamill -- $40,000 (including $20,000 win bonus)
defeating Mark Munoz -- $12,000
Gray Maynard -- $20,000 (including $10,000 win bonus)
defeating Jim Miller -- $9,000
Tamdan McCrory -- $20,000 (including $10,000 win bonus)
defeating Ryan Madigan -- $3,000
Kendall Grove -- $44,000 (including $22,000 win bonus)
defeating Jason Day -- $5,000
Jason Brilz -- $10,000 (including $5,000 win bonus)
defeating Tim Boetsch -- $12,000
Brandon Vera -- $60,000 (including $30,000 win bonus)
defeating Michael Patt -- $5,000
Shane Nelson -- $16,000 (including $8,000 win bonus)
defeating Aaron Riley -- $6,000
Dana White's UFC 96 Video Blog - 3/7/09
Here's Dana White's final video blog for UFC 96 filmed the day of the event. Highlights include Dana pounding on the Octagon trying to get Yves Lavigne to stop the Matt Brown/Pete Sell fight, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson getting sucker punched in the balls. Dana also asks Rampage if he wants to take the Rashad Evans fight in May at UFC 98, though no definitive answer is given because Rampage just finished beating Keith Jardine. C'mon, Dana, at least wait until the guy has his pants back on. I'm surprised Dana didn't just jump into the Octagon during the fight and push Keith Jardine out of the way. "Get out of here, Jardine! Hey, Rampage, want to fight Rashad in May?"
What was David Gardner thinking?
We all knew Shinya Aoki was going to win by submission, but we didn't know it was going to be because David Gardner wanted to wave to everybody. Gardner defended the rear naked choke extremely well the first time Aoki got his back (so well, in fact, that Aoki gave up the back to try a different submission), but the second time Aoki got his back was just a disaster. What the heck, Gardner? You're in a fight against one of the best submission artists in the world and he has your back. Now is not the time to wave to the crowd and say "Hi, Japan." If he hadn't stuck his arm up to wave, Aoki wouldn't have been able to slide his own arm up and rear-naked choke him. It'd be like if in a bull fight, the moment the bull was about to charge, the matador threw down his red cape and then bent over.
NOTE: You can watch the entire fight after the jump, but skip to about 6:45 if you only want to see the end.
Post UFC 96 thoughts: Brandon Vera's return
It's nice to see the return of Brandon "The Truth" Vera. The real Brandon "The Truth" Vera I mean. The one that entered the UFC as a heaping mass of Muay Thai aggression. He's looked sluggish and sloppy since his fight against Tim Sylvia, so it's nice to see him looking like his old form. Yeah, it was against somebody who probably shouldn't have been in the Octagon with him, but Vera looked sharp, he looked focus, and best of all he looked aggressive. He's said that he's rediscovered his love of fighting, so let's hope we see him continue doing what he did at UFC 96: kicking people so hard they decide they'd rather lie on their back in pain than stand up.
Post UFC 96 thoughts: Rashad Evans' commentary
I wouldn't have guessed, but Rashad Evans is probably the best fighter commentator I've heard yet. And that's including Randy Couture. He was incredibly insightful and really showed the difference in mentality from a person who watches fights to a person who actually fights. I'm sure a lot of the insight came from the fact that he helped train Keith Jardine for Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, but it was extremely refreshing to hear. In addition to the very general (and also very entertaining) comments from Joe Rogan, you got a very detailed analysis of Jardine's gameplan. I felt like I was in his brain, and that's all thanks to Rashad Evans. For some reason the guy gets booed, but he's earned himself a tip of my hat. Oh yeah, and I guess Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson are fighting for the title in May now at UFC 98. Poor Lyoto Machida. He should consider a new career in Never Ever Getting Title Shots. Because I think he would be very good at that job.
Post UFC 96 thoughts: Gonzaga vs Carwin
Okay, so I was wrong about this one. Everything was going as I was expecting until Gabriel Gonzaga got lazy with his defense and Shane Carwin let loose one of those cinder blocks he calls hands. What most impressed me was that Carwin managed to get back to his feet after Gonzaga had him on his back. Gonzaga knocks people out so people forget, but the guy is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion. And he's big. And he had Shane Carwin on his back. And, uh, then he got knocked out; which is a testament to what a beast Shane Carwin is. A tip of my hat to Carwin for proving me wrong and for being born with the genes of a silverback gorilla.
UFC 96 Picks: Rampage Jackson vs Keith Jardine
I'm going with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on this one. Rampage has shown he's susceptible to takedowns and leg kicks, but Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine has shown he's susceptible to getting punched really hard in the head. And that's exactly what Rampage Jackson does very well. As long as Rampage doesn't give Jardine too much room to work and establish his very awkward and twitchy rhythm, Rampage's superior boxing should overwhelm. I say either Rampage wins by TKO, or Jardine pulls out the decision by outpointing with leg kicks and peppering jabs. It pretty much depends on how aggressive and confident Rampage is, though judging by his last performance neither should be an issue.