The UFC will cap off what has been a storied and amazing 2008 with a stacked card that could rival one of their 2007 PPV events, UFC 73: Stacked, which like UFC 92, also boasts a Triple Main Event! Two title fights will take place that night and one fight will be a bout to determine a potential light heavyweight title contender in the near future.
In the first of three parts of the preview of UFC 92, I will look at one of the most anticipated rematches between two top light heavyweight competitors, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva!
Quinton Jackson (28-7) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-8)
One of the most popular fighters in the light heavyweight division today, Quinton Jackson is also one of the most entertaining. The 30-year old MMA fighter is a veteran of the ring with a career spanning in PRIDE and now the UFC. It was back in 2001 and Jackson could have not been there at a better time when MMA was beginning to gain a lot of steam en route to becoming one of the most popular sports in Japan. In his debut fight, he was matched up against a man whom during that time was considered the measuring stick for all middleweight fighters in that organization, Kazushi Sakuraba. The crafty Sakuraba was able to defeat Jackson, but the fight helped raised Jackson's stock, so much that he was matched up against fighters such as Masaaki Satake, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kevin Randleman and Mikhail Illoukhine. With powerful strikes, Jackson tried his hand out in K-1 fights, competing against French K-1 veteran Cyril Abidi and outmatching him in the two fights both men had against each other. He also scored some big victories over the likes of Ikuhisa Minowa and Ricardo Arona, in which in his bout with Arona, he used his pro-wrestling training to good use, winning the match via a devastating powerbomb while he was locked in a triangle choke. After a short stint in the World Fighting Alliance, Jackson signed with the UFC and gained success when in 2007, he defeated Chuck Liddell to become the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. It was Jackson's second victory over the MMA veteran as he had earlier gained a win over Liddell back when both men competed in PRIDE in 2003. It was at UFC 75 held in London, England where Jackson proved his superiority as one of the top light heavyweight fighters in the world when he defeated PRIDE veteran Dan Henderson to unify both the UFC Light Heavyweight Title and PRIDE Middleweight Title! Jackson would then be one of the two coaches for the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter, going up against fellow light heavyweight, Forrest Griffin. As per tradition, both fighters would then square off against each other after the season has ended and in the end, it was Griffin who defeated Jackson at UFC 86 and captured the UFC Light Heavyweight Title from Jackson. Jackson went through a terrible slump after the match, firing his trainer and manager, Juanito Ibarra, then got involved in a terrible road rage incident which made headlines in the news when Jackson drove recklessly in his Ford F-350 and got into a chase with the cops. Jackson has since pleaded not guilty to his actions during a hearing in August, but nothing has since come out of his recent hearing last month.
Wanderlei Silva is known as The Axe Murderer for a very good reason. If he could be compared to a K-1 fighter, Jerome LeBanner would be the best guy to compare Silva with. Silva is known for his super aggressive fighting style and his brutal strikes which would lead to a tough knock or stoppage of his opponents as he is a Muay Thai specialist and also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Silva started out in the UFC when he got knocked out by Vitor Belfort in his debut UFC fight. He then went on to knock out Tony Petarra with his knees, then lost to Tito Ortiz in his first and unsuccessful challenge for Ortiz's UFC Middleweight Title. It was then when he moved to PRIDE in 1999 during PRIDE's early years and defeated Carl Malenko at PRIDE 7 in his debut fight there. From that point on, Silva racked up a huge eighteen-fight winning streak, beating the likes of Dan Henderson, Shungo Oyama, Kazushi Sakuraba, Guy Mezger, Kiyoshi Tamura, Ikuhisa Minowa and Hidehiko Yoshida. After a very very impressive run over in PRIDE, things started to change for The Axe Murderer. Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, bought out PRIDE after the promotion folded due to a controversial yakuza scandal which brought bad light to television networks that air PRIDE, including Fuji TV. After buying out PRIDE, Zuffa was able to purchase several contracts of whatever that's left of PRIDE and Silva was one of the fighters that would make the transition to the UFC, returning to the promotion after seven years. To make his return highly publicized, UFC President Dana White decided to match Silva up against one of the greatest light heavyweights of all time, Chuck Liddell, in a match which White had been dreaming of putting together for a very long time. After so many years, the match finally took place at UFC 79: Nemesis, where Liddell and Silva were co-headliners of the historic event (right below the UFC Interim Welterweight Title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes). It was a heated fight which saw the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada come to life with zero silence as a dream match took place right before their very eyes. Unfortunately, Silva's performance was sub-par as he was not as aggressive as he should have been in the fight and in the end, it was a decision loss for Silva as Liddell took the win. Silva's next fight was a redeemer of sorts as he was able to bounce back from the loss against Liddell with a win over Keith Jardine in 36 seconds into the first round at UFC 84: Ill Will!
It's retribution for one fighter and a chance to thrust back into the spotlight for the other!
Both Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva have crossed paths on two occasions while both men were competing in PRIDE. The first time both men clashed was at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 at the Tokyo Dome in the finals of the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight GP Tournament, which also featured Chuck Liddell and Hidehiko Yoshida. It was actually at this very event where promoters were hoping for Liddell to face Silva in the finals, but after Jackson bested Liddell in the semi-finals, it came down to Jackson vs. Silva. Using his superb Muay Thai clinch coupled with his aggressive strikes, Silva was able to land seventeen consecutive standing knee strikes to the head of Jackson, forcing a referee stoppage and declaring Silva the winner and tournament champion via TKO! Both men would then meet a year later, this time with the PRIDE Middleweight Title on the line. It was Silva the champion meeting Jackson the challenger and much like the first fight, the result saw Silva taking the win over Jackson again with a series of punches and standing knee strikes 3:26 into the second round and at the same time, successfully defend his title against Jackson. Silva owns a 2-0 record over Jackson and both men are gunning for a huge win.
For Jackson, it would mean retribution after losing to Silva twice in PRIDE and a win in the UFC would raise up his stock, especially after the road rage incident which had shed some bad light on him and a terrible loss to Forrest Griffin, which also saw his UFC Light Heavyweight Title being taken away from him. That being said, Jackson must win this fight at all costs if he would like to re-challenge for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title again.
Silva on the other hand had a pretty bad start to his UFC return. In fact, prior to his return to the UFC, Silva chalked up two pretty tough losses, one to Mirko Filipovic, which cost him a chance to compete in the finals of the PRIDE Openweight GP Tournament against Josh Barnett (who would lose to Filipovic in the finals) and another to Dan Henderson whom he lost his PRIDE Middleweight Title to. The loss to Chuck Liddell put a dent on his record, but the win over Keith Jardine meant that The Axe Murderer is still alive and well. For Silva, he must win this match in order to gain contention in what is a very competitive light heavyweight division in the UFC thus far.
Who will win in this highly-anticipated rematch between two tough fighters and who will go up in the rankings for contention to face the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, whomever it may be after the night is over, be it Forrest Griffin or Rashad Evans? Will Rampage take the victory or will The Axe Murderer once again stop him in his tracks?
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