Not for nothing if you've ever taken a hard shot to the liver that tap out is so much more legit. It's brutal. Kidneys suck but the liver is far worse.
Rampage had a style that was exciting to watch, whenever he pulled off another slam the reaction of the announcers would help make it a "WOAHHHh!" moment. I also like his humour during interviews. There were a bunch of times with Ariel Hawani especially where I was laughing out loud.
Not even pride rules. Only the unified rules the USA prohibits that. Watch one or rizin if you want to see actual fights. We had aljo winning a title on his knees. Anthony smith almost beat the goat as under the rules you’re used too it’s safe to sit in your knees and ass against the cage for minutes at a time. Pretend you’re getting up. And they. Am finally knee or kick yiu.
Besides Rampage having one of the most durable chin in MMA history. Rampage's physical strength was unparalleled, he didn't use techniques to get out of submissions, he use his natural strength and just overpower his opponents. That takes a lot of strength and stamina to pull these off. On top of my head, I don't think any fighter besides Sean Sherk.
It was really a combination of that brute power with actual sound technique. He knew his angles and spacing and how reversals better than just about anyone
Crazy how much more technically sound he was in Pride. Sure his striking and defense became more polished. But he was a lot more all around vs just head hitting and eating leg kicks
He trained with a Muay Thai guy during his PRIDE run , it's where he learned that wing block/parry thing he would do before the hook. Overall his stand up was more versatile in PRIDE and his clinch and wrestling was better.
it's just so sad for the fans that he refused to get in the UFC'S Hall of fame. They wanted to include him. he just rejected it. he was the only man who unified Pride and UFC light weight titles after defeating Dan Henderson
8:28 as well...caught him jumping a sub and just ragdolls him like a child. Rampage had the brute strength in him for real. If I took anyone of his slams I'd be KO'ed instantly and probably in a wheelchair for a year haha. Granted I'm 5'10" 185lbs
When he was young in Pride he just seemed so much more motivated than in the UFC. Apperently he hated training as he mentioned himself and eventuslly it got to him. But in his prime he was a powerful beast.
Pride feels so much realer than UFC holy fuck. It’s so much more savage. Every fighter has a “if he dies, he dies” mentality and Rampage was one of the MOST savage of them all 😅 killer
Younger modern mma fans just don't have a clue just how terrifying Quinton was in his prime! With the only thing most of them they really know about him are his slams, but he was so much more than that. He wasn't just a power-puncher either, though he was definitely the hardest puncher at 205 lbs history, (hell, for a while he may very well have been the most devastating puncher and ko artist in all of mma history for a while), - so he certainly did have crazy ko power, but he was also one of the most skilled and technical boxers in mma history ! Seriously, to this day he's still top 10, maybe even close to top 5! It kinda sucked how short his prime was, due to the fact that there was only three or four years where he had reached his top level of skill, fighting IQ, to match his raw power and athleticism while implementing a pretty well-rounded fighting style. This started with his last few years in Japan and his first year and a half or so while in the UFC. After annihilating Chuck to become champ - he had his first tittle defense against Hendo, which also was the UFC/Pride championship unification bout - with Dan being the Middleweight Pride champion, (in Pride there were no "light-heavyweight" division, they just had MW - which went from 185 to 205). Following that dominant win over prime Hendo, he became increasingly one-dimensional focusing on only throwing punches when striking, eve when in the clinch. He used to have some of the most devastating knees in the clinch in all of mma, while also utilizing leg and body kicks sometimes. But from the Griffon fight on, even though athletically speaking he was still in his physical prime, but because he became a head-hunter - I personally think as a complete fighter that bout against Griffon marked the end of his prime. He still went on to have some impressive wins over the likes and Wandi and Machida, while also giving Jones by far his toughest fight until Gus and Cormier, but he just wasn't nearly the complete fighter as he once was. For a time he was the best LHW on the planet, or at least second or third. And now, even to this day - i still would rank him as a top 5 LHW of all time. Along with that he's also gotta be imo one of the top 5 or so most underrated/unheralded UFC champions of all time.
Casuals: UFC should allow knees to grounded opponents to stop wrestlers. Literally a video demonstration of wrestlers using knees on the ground to much larger advantage.
It would stop wrestlers from just diving at someones legs and turtling afterwards. Ofc wrestlers can use ground techniques better but they would also have to be much smarter with their wrestling.
Rampage actually had some great skills, there's a reason why he became UFC Light-Heavyweight champion and defended the title. Early in his career his wrestling and GnP was world-class, and later developed beautifully crisp boxing. He had underrated cardio for a big man as well. With respect to Lewis he is very one-dimensional by comparison who only got as far as he did because Heavyweight is a shallow division. Only recently is it catching up to him that you can't just rely on pure power and 'just standing up' to win fights.
Rampage in his prime at pride was so scary man. They had so many scary dudes in pride. I believe if Jackson was growing up in these times and had all the training these newer fighter have as completel mma fighters he would have been amazing
That last match when he caught the dude with a soft body punch and immediately pulled up. Rampage was an absolute monster but the dude had way more respect than people realized provided pre-fight the smack talk didn't reach a point of no return.
That body slam was brutal he about folded that guy in half , not many fighters did body slam like him in MMA the only other body slam I've seen matt Hughes he picked up always walk across the ring took away from fence and drop him , I'm surprised more fighter don't do body slams like that
Imagine what Arona was thinking when he went from seeing the ceiling to the crowd behind Rampage’s back from 8 feet in the air😂 probably the only thought he had was “well….fuck”
Those follow-ups on wanderlei were personal. Rampage -Wandy pride fights were brutal finishes for wanderlei. Quinton probably would have punched him to living death had that referee been there.
That’s crazy though, because UFC rules seem much safer and their rules don’t make a whole lot of sense even though they went out like 07’ (and the owner and founder started RiZEN Fighting Championship) but you can’t use your elbow to the head or chest but you can need someone on the ground in their head or neck thats crazy rampage could’ve killed that one dude near him in the head and neck like that or at least paralyzed him ,good lord have mercy 🙏🏼💪🏼👍🏼
I think him and Anthony Johnson had to be the strongest fighters in Light Heavyweight history. Jones, Cormier, and Randleman are probably in the conversation as well but while they had the brute strength to ragdoll opponents, they didnt really have the same consistent punching power that Rampage and Rumble had which is what separates those 2 form the rest of the pack
Everyone is ethier chuck liddell or conor got them into mma , for me it was rampage i just thought he was the coolest thing ever , dude doesnt get enough credit, he was an absolute monster , and a character straight outta of action movie 💯
While Wanderlei got the better of Rampage in their prime, I do think Rampage woulda fought the best against modern fighters out of Couture, Liddell, Rampage, and Wanderlei. Wanderlei was a beast, don't get me wrong, but that type of fighting you gotta be young and not have your bell rung too many times cuz you will get hit fighting like Wanderlei. Rampage style I'd say was most well rounded. I miss the mid 2000s!
Those Japanese dudes on the outside of the ring when Rampage was on the brink of knocking their hero out looked like they were looking up at Godzilla about to unleash his atomic breath on them
