Rampage Jackson Says Matt Hamill 'Lit a Fire' Under Him for UFC 130 Fight

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If you take Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at his word, time is running short on his mixed martial arts career. The former UFC light-heavyweight champion reasserted on Thursday that he plans to call it quits at age 35, and he turns 33 next month. Until then, he still has a few big fights ahead of him. Up until recently, however, he didn't view UFC 130's main event bout with Matt Hamill as one of them.

In recent interviews, Jackson made headlines when he said he wasn't particularly excited to face Hamill. On a Thursday teleconference, Jackson said that wasn't unusual for him, as he no longer gets excited about facing anyone. But, he also added that changed a bit when Hamill commented recently that he knew he was "going to break his will."

"My main motivation is to win," he said, "but I think Matt made a mistake when he said he's going to break my will and I'm going to overlook him. That lit a fire up under my ass. That made me train a little bit harder so I can break his will, and make sure I can outclass him."

Jackson admitted that was the just the pick-me-up he needed to spark him.

"Honestly in the beginning, fighting him, I wasn't 100 percent motivated as I would be vs. someone who had beaten me before or something like that," he said. "But when he said that, that motivated me as much as I've been motivated in a fight."

Jackson (31-8) is coming off a split decision win over Lyoto Machida, and might find himself in the title picture with a win over Hamill, a possibility he said is "the last thing on my mind."

For his part, Hamill (10-2) said his comments stemmed from his belief that Jackson would overlook him. Over the last several years, almost all of Jackson's fights have come against top five fighters, a level he has yet to reach. Jackson said that in preparation, he's worked overtime on his wrestling, acknowledging that he "really respects" his opponent's prowess in that part of the game while shooting back, "I feel I'm a pretty decent MMA wrestler, too."

Hamill and his manager Duff Holmes alluded to their potential game plan, with Holmes saying "He's going to be out-wrestled and he's going to be taken down. There's just no way around it." Later, when asked if he felt Jackson has concentrated on his boxing to the detriment of the rest of his MMA skills, Hamill said, "Yeah, that's why I want him."

A win over Jackson would be the biggest of Hamill's career, and thrust him into the title picture with a six-fight win streak. With so much at stake it might be easy to look ahead, but Hamill is trying to focus on the job at hand.

"I've always tried to take it one fight at a time," he said. "I feel like I'm in the semifinals of a wrestling bracket. And I've never lost in the semifinals of a wrestling bracket."

With his time running short, Jackson too admitted there is some importance in going after the belt again, but also wanted to continue to leave fans with memories from a crowd-pleasing style, even if they didn't necessarily understand why he might not be around much longer.

"If anybody's smart, they want to have an exit plan from MMA or any full contact sport," he said. "You can tell which fans are smart and which ones are kind of ignorant if they just think you're going to fight and just be done. What happens after you get done fighting? Just run away? I don't understand what they think. That stuff doesn't bother me at all. It's my life, it's my family I take care of. I have my goals and my plans. Things I want to do to make me happy. That's all I care about is me and my family. The fans? I'm just here to entertain them, but do I care about them the same way as I care about my family? Hell no."

 

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UFC turns down Vancouver’s request for extra police at UFC 131

The UFC broke down another barrier at UFC 115 by getting Vancouver to acquiesce and then regulate an event at Rogers Arena. The fastest selling event in UFC history drew 17,669, and by all accounts was a huge success. Now we find out, three weeks before UFC 131 returns to Vancouver, that there's still some resistance in city.

Tom Wright confirmed to MMAFighting that Vancouver P.D. asked the UFC to pay for extra security around the arena on the night of the event. Wright didn't see the need for extra policing.

"I spoke with the VPD [Thursday] and advised them that we would not be funding any 'expanded police presence' for community areas in the general vicinity of the Rogers Arena," the director of Canadian Operations wrote.

Residents thought UFC 115 brought a bad element to their area before and after the event.

Residents complained of public drinking, rowdy drunks and public urination before and after the UFC event. Chu and representatives of Rogers Arena have since met with the False Creek Residents' Association to discuss safety and security.

Aside from an increased police presence, portable toilets are expected to be placed outside Rogers Arena and along routes used by pedestrians to get to and from the venue.

Wright was quick to defend the sport and say it's no different than a hockey crowd.

"I explained that while we remain supportive of law enforcement in every city we bring shows to, we weren't prepared to be 'treated differently' than other events/concerts/shows (Canucks, Rolling Stones etc). This is a particularly important consideration when 'incidents' at UFC events are typically fewer than other big events. As I explained, if I were the Chief I'd be more worried about Canuck fans (celebrating or crying in their beers) than UFC fans."

Apparently, there's been buzz for the extra security since it came to light that two residents were attacked in the area near the arena. The two men arrested had attended UFC 115. Adding fuel to the fire, the victims were also gay and the suspects were accused of shouting homophobic slurs during the beatdown.

Are MMA crowds worse than hockey, boxing and football crowds? I've never seen an example.

Getting MMA to Vancouver was never an easy process for the UFC. Just weeks before UFC 116, the promotion nearly pulled the event because of an insurance squabble with local officials.

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This insurance will cover fighters' injuries while they are in camp. It's a huge victory for fighters and a smart move by Zuffa, but what does it mean for the fans?

It means that we'll see better fights. Fighters won't feel the need to go through their bouts with injuries just to get their medical expenses covered. A fighter is rarely at 100 percent when he or she goes into a fight, but now it will be less likely to see a fighter go through with a bout when it's not the smart or healthy move. Fighting with a torn ACL, a broken bone or a concussion will no longer be necessary, and healthier fighters make for well matched-up, more exciting fights.

Or as veteran fighter Jason High tweeted, "Nothing worse than seeing someone you know is injured fight anyway so they can get their [expletive] fixed."

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Twitter is essentially where the news of Osama bin Laden's death broke. It's also where many Americans and folks around the world reacted. The immediacy of Twitter is amazing, but can also be dangerous.

Here's a sampling of the reaction from some folks around the MMA world.

Former Ultimate Fighter cast member Brad Tavares was lost when he started seeing bin Laden trending. Inside a movie theater, he hadn't seen the news.

Tiki Ghosn, a trainer partner of Quinton Jackson's, was in celebratory mode.

Brian Stann, a Naval Academy grad and Marine, hopes this is the beginning of real progress in the Middle East.

Tim Kennedy, an Army Ranger, who's served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, wishes he was involved in the bin Laden raid.

Carlos Condit called for extra retribution.

Kenny Florian gave praise to the special force members who sacrificed all these years in pursuit of bin Laden.

Anthony Johnson did the same.

UFC veteran Nate Quarry looked to lighten the mood by turning to the joke that was used no less than 500 times this morning.

Showtime announcer Mauro Ranallo had the strange initial reaction of asking why it took so long to catch bin Laden.

He was greeted with anger and an explanation.

Jiu-jitsu ace and former UFC broadcaster Eddie Bravo began to discuss 9-11 conspiracy theories.

HDNet broadcaster Michael Schiavello said he'd have to retire one of his "time proven" catch-phrases.

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"My heart is just doing back-flips right now," Baker told Sherdog. "I can't express how much this girl cares for me and how much I love her. I want to give world to her. That cage is hers as much as it is mine. We're going to conquer it together. There are a lot of good things in store for us."

Baker (15-2) drilled Riggs (34-13) with left hook at 3:53 of the second round to gain his way into Bellator's Season 5 middleweight tournament set to begin in the fall.

The last year has been a rollercoaster ride for Baker, who's battling chronic myelogenous leukemia.

"It's taken me into areas I could have never imagined," Baker told MMADieHards.  "From all different angles, whether it be telephone or emails or Facebook.  My doctor was talking with this patient who had testicular cancer and he heard my story, and he's a fighter as well.  We connected with him and it's been crazy how much of an inspiration shined through.  I want to continue that.  It's a blessing that I have the responsibility to show people that no matter what your body may endure or trials you go through in life, you're able to correct it to the fullest.  Its crazy that I can affect people in so many different ways"

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