UFC 114- Rampage seems not so Bad Ass Baracus

As Mike Goldman put it so eloquently seconds before Suga Rashad Evans walked out of the tunnel... " And now, it's time for the most highly anticipated match in UFC history."

Well, that's quite the statement Goldy, even if you were going for a hyperbole.

Nonetheless, one of the better hyped grudge matches of the UFC took place in Las Vegas last night when Quinton Jackson squared off against Rashad Evans. The two former TUF coaches had been verbally abusing each other for over a year including Rashad referring to Jackson as an "Uncle Tom". Turns out Rashad could have said anything he wanted as he walked away with the unanimous decision. The fight started off rather quickly as Evans cracked Jackson early in the first round and sent him reeling. Evans then trapped Jackson against the cage and we didn't see much change in scenery after that. Evans dominated Jackson in the clinch and scored a couple of very solid takedowns. Jackson has a very high takedown defense percentage and Evans really made him work to stuff the TD attempts he didn't land. As Jackson was getting a pep talk before the third round, you could hear his corner telling him he was down 2 rounds and needed the KO. Jackson came out swinging and landed some huge shots that sent Rashad to the canvas. Jackson should have smelt blood and the killer instinct should have taken over...we should have seen this "Rampage" character take over as Jackson has proclaimed so often before. Instead, Jackson just sort of laid on Rashad. Simply put, he ran out of gas. Fight ends. Evans wins.

In my opinion, I don't really think Evans won the fight as much as Jackson lost the fight. Jackson had the opportunity to finish this fight but lacked the killer instinct in order to seal the deal. As a result of his performance, I question Jackson's dedication to the sport and wonder if maybe he is ready to enter the Hollywood realm as he has often stated is his plan. Maybe things would have gone differently for Rampage had he kept the BA Baracus mohawk for the fight. I know I would have enjoyed the shameless advertising.

So what's next for these two fighters? Evans has earned himself a title shot with Shogun Hua later this year and Rampage...well he has some soul searching to do.