Remaking UFC 88

George Lucas — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:30:57 -0000

Even though UFC 87 is fresh on everyone's mind, I'm already getting excited about UFC 88. It may not have the star-power draw of Brock Lesnar and Wanderlei gave Evans a hard act to follow as an opponent for Chuck, but I feel that every single fight on the card has something interesting to offer.

However, just because they're interesting doesn't mean they make a whole lot of sense. I'll not accuse Joe Silva of setting up squash matches, and every fighter is dangerous in his own way, I just think a little bit of shuffling could go a long way to making the whole card more competitive and more meaningful. Here are some changes I would make:

Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin

Henderson and Franklin are consistently neck and neck at the top of the middleweight rankings, yet neither one is in any position to go further in the division with one exception: fight each other. It just makes sense. Hendo is taking a big risk with his career in fighting the unknown but dangerous Palhares, when a win over Franklin would be a big step towards a rematch with Silva. Meanwhile Franklin is more or less giving up on the division that built his career to fight at a heavier weight class when there are several fights left for him. Unlike Silva, Franklin hasn't cleared out the division. Fightmatrix rankings would have this as a #4 vs. #5.

Rousimar Palhares vs. Jason Day

So where does that leave Toquinho? Sure, a win over a top five middleweight like Henderson could vault him from obscurity to contention. On the other side of the token, a loss on one of the top billed fights of the card could throw him down into the swamp of middling middleweights with very little chance of seeing a title shot. Jason Day is a great example of what I mean. He's a decent fighter who got utterly thrashed by a well-known fighter and now he finds himself in a fairly meaningless bout against another light heavyweight cutting to middleweight. So I say give Toquinho this fight, let him prove one more time that he belongs at the head of the class. Going by their Fightmatrix ranking, this fight would be #32 vs. #38 (as opposed to #32 vs. #4).

Jason Lambert vs. Matt Hammill

Lambert has dropped 3 out of his last 4 at 205 lbs, carrying with him a considerable amount of extra weight. Clearly, a cut to 185 would do wonders for his career. So why do I think he should fight at least one more time as a light heavyweight? Because, aside from his fight with Rashad Evans, Lambert has done very well against big wrestlers (Hinckle, Wiuff) and very poorly against big strikers (Cane, Gouveia. That said, Hammill likes to use his hands more than he probably should, but would he have enough chin to take what Lambert can dish out? This fight would be #27 vs. #26 (as opposed to #5 vs. #26).

Beyond that, UFC 88 mostly looks great. Chonan vs. Carneiro is finally happening, but has lost a bit of its luster ever since Jucao got tapped by a last minute replacement. Dong Hyun Kim vs. Matt Brown doesn't make a whole lot of sense on paper but it should be a decent showcase for the talented Korean. Still, it's hard to believe Zuffa couldn't find a top 50 welterweight to put him up against like Burkman, Lytle or Fioravanti. Tavares vs. Pelligrino is very well-matched and should feature some great grappling from two guys who know they have to get things together or get dropped. Boetsch vs. Lee could either end quickly and brutally or be a no-cardio slopfest. It's a shame they're saving Houston Alexander for UFN 15 because he seems like the best possible fight Zuffa could give Boetsch. Yoshida vs. Karo could have some amazing MMA Judo and is also closely matched ranking-wise, even if Yoshida is relatively unknown.

And of course, Rashad vs. Chuck may not sound all that great but there aren't many top light heavyweights left for Liddell to fight. With Machida taking on Thiago and Shogun rematching Rampage, Chuck is the obvious win the undefeated Evans needs to step into a shot at Forrest.

Breaking News: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Arrested for Hit and Run

George Lucas — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:25:36 -0000

Fronted by Luke Thomas

via www.blogsmithmedia.com

Nope, this isn't a joke:

From Hollywood gossip site TMZ:

Former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson got busted just minutes ago, and is currently in custody on the way to the clink, but not before he was ordering on the ground, cops nearby with guns drawn.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Rampage was in a car crash near Newport Beach (that's near Laguna Beach in the O.C.) and then split the scene. Cops gave chase and eventually caught up and charged him with felony hit and run and felony evading arrest.

Here's the deal about the dumbest hit and run ever. Notice the truck he tried evading police in -- the one with the giant picture of him plastered on the side!

We're told there could be additional charges. No word yet on whether Rampage resisted arrest.

UPDATE (from Luke Thomas):

Jackson, the driver of a lifted, gray pick-up truck left crashed cars, shredded tires and sparks in his wake this afternoon when he led police on a short pursuit from the southbound 55 freeway exit onto Newport Boulevard where he hit at least three cars, police said.

The driver hit two cars at 19th Street and Newport Boulevard, then drove away at about 1:13 p.m., Lt. Paul Dondero said. A Costa Mesa police officer saw the driver southbound approaching 17th Street and tried to pull him over, police said. There, he hit at least one more car before continuing to run, now heading south toward the Balboa Peninsula, Dondero said. Some time after that, the truck blew a tire but continued to drive on its rims, Dondero said.

SB Nation User Blog: George Lucas

Remaking UFC 88

Breaking News: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Arrested for Hit and Run