UFC 114: Rashad Takes Down Rampage

Saturday we watched UFC 114 and the main event billed as “the biggest grudge match in UFC history.” “Sugar” Rashad Evans (15-1-1) used his wrestling to beat “Rampage” Quinton Jackson (28-8) in what believe was a major let down.

There was much hype leading up to this fight from as far back as UFC 96. We sat and watched them throw verbal jabs at one another on “The Ultimate Fighter” as opposing coaches. We then had to wait until Jackson had finished with the “A-Team” movie for the fight to finally take place. There was even a war of words on Twitter between the two men leading up to the event.

I think everyone knew this fight would end one of two ways, Rashad by decision or Rampage by knock out. The end result was Rashad Evans with a unanimous decision victory in what was more or less a grappling and position battle.

Rashad caught Rampage at the opening bell with a shot that seemed to rock him. From that point on it was Rashad uses the clinch to push Jackson against the cage and effectively neutralize the striking of Rampage. It is an effective tactic when you have a wrestler going against a striker.

This tactic is not something one can really complain about since the sport is mixed martial arts (MMA) and wrestling is a part of that. However that does not mean someone has to like watching a fighter that uses this tactic. Rashad seems to have become a fighter many fans love to hate and the tactics he used Saturday night did nothing but help to cement his status as a one of the more hated fighters in the UFC. I think Jackson was hurt less by the loss than Rashad was by the type of win he pulled off.

I come from a wrestling background so I enjoy that aspect of the sport but I would much prefer to see a wrestler use his skills to not just control where the fight takes place but to finish fights. I believe many of the fighters with a wrestling background game-plan fights with strikers to become a decision victory. They want to use the cage to clinch, put try to wear their opponent down and grind out a win. In today’s sport of MMA we no longer are supposed to be watching style versus style. Now MMA fighters are touted as well rounded athletes that mix all the styles together and this simply is not true.

There are some out there that do it well and there are wrestlers that use their control to work on submissions or striking from a dominant position. Rashad did neither of these things as he seemed content to coast to a win.

Of course we can also lay blame to Jackson for not being more effective in the clinch and the takedown defense department. After all it is his job to know he is facing a wrestler and to be prepared to counter such a tactic. I have even heard some go so far as to say we should blame UFC matchmaker Joe Silva for always giving us striker versus wrestler match-ups. These fights tend to lead to upset fans but there is no way he can only have striker versus striker or wrestler versus wrestler. It is just not a viable solution.

Regardless, Rashad survived yet another third round disaster as he was put down by Rampage. Rashad fought through it to survive and Jackson is now taking some heat for not being more aggressive in going for the kill after the knock down.

In the end Rashad comes out on top and gets the title shot against current UFC light heavyweight champion “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (19-4). It is another grappler versus striker fight but the difference here is Rua’s underrated jiu jitsu skills. Not his ability to submit guys per say but more his sweeps and ability to get back to his feet.

As a fight fan what did you think of the main event at UFC 114?