UFC 135 Press Conference With Jon Jones And Rampage Jackson
Added on Jul 20, 2011 by John Petit in
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Today the UFC held the press conference in Denver, Colorado for UFC 135 which is set to take place there on September 24. UFC President Dana White, Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Bones Jones, and former light heavyweight champion Quinton Rampage Jackson all attended to field questions from the media and fans at the Pepsi Center.
This was the first time the two faced off and talked about the fight, and Bones (13-1) and Rampage (32-8) didn’t disappoint. The most interesting exchange took place when a fan asked about the Shogun Rua fight. Bones said “I think I displayed pretty good kickboxing against Mauricio ‘Shogun’ (Rua). Shogun’ is the one who actually knees and elbows and throws high kicks. ‘Rampage’ is like fighting a boxer in my opinion. So, if he thinks that I’m intimidated to stand with him, I think it’s great for me that he’s under that impression.”
Jackson didn’t see it that way, and although he was giving Jones the credit he said he fought a soft Shogun. Jackson said “Well, I just have to say, straight up, I do respect you, dog. I do think you’re the future of MMA, straight up, keeping it real. But as far as ‘Shogun,’ he was rusty as hell, dog. He was off an injury, hadn’t fought for a year, (and) had like two knee surgeries.”
Jones wasn’t having it, “There will always be excuses,” he said “I’m sure after I beat you, they’ll say, ‘You didn’t fight the PRIDE ‘Rampage.’ You fought the movie star ‘Rampage.” Surprisingly, they found themselves in agreement. Jackson said “You’re right. There’s always excuses. There’s a hundred of them. I’ve got like three excuses for every time I lost; I ain’t going to lie.”
One reporter asked about Rampage’s ‘Old School” status in MMA, and Jackson took that to heart. “Who you calling old, dog? I’m only 33, man. Goodness. You all act like I’m Randy Couture’s decrepit old ass.” He went on to say “If I’ve got to represent the old school, then I guess I’ve got to represent them. You all put me in that category. I was younger than him when I started doing my thing. I was fighting with a 2-1 and 2-2 record fighting people like Wanderlei Silva and stuff like that. I guess I’m old school.”
Jackson concluded “But with old school comes a lot of experience. He’s the youngest champion, but I think he’s the least experienced champion in UFC history. All that stuff doesn’t matter to me. I just go fight and get my belt back. I have tunnel vision.” Jackson was close, but not correct. The least experienced champion in UFC history was former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Although there are a handful of possible fights on the table, two other bouts are confirmed UFC 135. One is a main card fight between former 2 time welterweight champion Matt Hughes against Diego Sanchez. The other is a preliminary heavyweight fight between Benn Rothwell and Mark Hunt.
