"Rampage" Rematch in Memphis

I’m not lying!  However, the headline of this article is not a fact, but a probability.

‘Page in Memphis

The fact is that the UFC, led by Vice President Mark Ratner, and the FedExForum in Memphis lobbied diligently this year to set-up a commission to regulate mixed martial arts in Tennessee.

Success at last!  And, as I write this, the State of Tennessee is scrambling to staff and organize their new commission.

(Tennessee readers should contact their State representatives immediately to be considered for the commission.)

FedExForum’s reward is the return of Memphis native son “Rampage” Quinton Jackson (29-7), who testified before the Tennessee legislature on behalf of MMA regulation.

FedExForum’s collaboration with the UFC was all but predicated on an eventual Rampage main event in Memphis.

Unless ‘Page wants to tune-up in the Octagon before November, it’s a lock that his golden grin will be donning billboards across Memphis before his next tussle, likely at UFC 90.

‘Page as Top Contender

My prediction is that UFC President Dana White and Matchmaker Joe Silva will rematch Jackson versus Forrest Griffin (16-4) for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

After Saturday’s back-and-forth brawl, Jackson remains the most legit’ challenger.

“Dragon” Lyoto Machida (13-0) needs another top ten stoppage before earning a gold run.  I’m not the only one who thinks so.

“If [Machida] keeps winning, he gets a title shot,” White announced after Machida won a UD over “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-6-1).

Note that as recently as May in White’s mind Machida’s title bid depended on more wins.  He hasn’t yet earned a UFC title shot.

I’ve read predictions of a New Year’s “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-5) versus Griffin TUF 1 melodrama, assuming Liddell defeats “Sugar” Rashad Evans (11-0-1) in Atlanta.

But, is Evans really the last battle on the road to title glory?

Liddell will get the New Year’s nod, but likely versus “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (16-3).

There are less likely, but reasonable scenarios, like matching Jackson versus Liddell for New Year’s or Jackson versus long-time nemesis “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1) in Memphis.

What’s Best for The Belt?

Griffin won Saturday night in Las Vegas, but won a close decision versus a Champ who had been on hiatus for ten months.

Remember how belts in other UFC weight classes last changed waists?

Fighters.com’s Welterweight Champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (16-2) rocketed knees to fourth-ranked “Terror” Matt Serra‘s (9-5) ribs as the then reigning Champ turtled up in the second round in April.

Fighters.com’s Heavyweight Champion “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) choked third-ranked “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4) into a third-round tapout in February.

Fighters.com’s top lightweight contender “Prodigy” B.J. Penn (13-4-1) beat “Daddy” Joe Stevenson‘s (29-8) face bloody before choking him out in the second round in January.

The UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, the organization’s premier belt, deserves the same finality; and, so does Rampage, who himself knocked out Liddell in the first round in May 2007 to become a champion.