Dana White: Rampage ‘pissing me off’ by saying he lost
In an exciting battle of former light heavyweight champions that ended up with a split decision, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson defeated…
In an exciting battle of former light heavyweight champions that ended up with a split decision, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson defeated Lyoto Machida in the main event at UFC 123. Rampage expressed surprise at the decision, declaring afterward that “Machida whooped my ass tonight. I considered that an ass whipping.”
Rampage said he figured the judges must have been rewarding him for his aggressive style. “I think that’s what the judges were thinking. I think it was so close it was unfair to Machida. Even if I don’t want to, I have to give him a rematch.”
UFC president Dana White was more than a little ticked by the UFC 123 winner’s post-fight behavior.
“‘Rampage’ and I are getting along, but he’s pissing me off again,” White said after the event. “I had ‘Rampage’ winning that fight two rounds to one. … I scored that fight for ‘Rampage.’ He is slumping down and holding up the other guy’s hand and acting like he lost. I thought he won.”
However, Jackson, who’s been known to goof off in even the most serious situations, said he was still reeling from Machida’s late-fight rally.
“I just got done getting punched in the face a couple times. Don’t pay me no mind.
“My trainers are in there and told me I won the fight. But when I was in the fight, I just had a one-track mind to knock him out. In the third round, he came at me so much, I forget what happened in the first two rounds. … It’s one of those things where at the time I thought I was getting my ass whooped because I was just on the ground taking a flurry to my face.”
“It’s different fighting than Machida than watching Machida,” he said. “I have more respect for his style. I wish I could move like that. I have more respect for his style.
“But I still don’t want to watch it.”