Rampage Jackson: Was A Decision Victory At UFC 130 Bad For Jackson?

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Rampage Jackson Got An Easy Decision Victory At UFC 130, But Should He Be Disappointed With The Outcome?

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson looked very good in his fight against Matt Hamill at UFC 130. He showed precise, accurate striking and very good defense. But he wasn't able to do the one thing that he wanted to do in the fight: Knock Hamill out.

To be fair, Hamill did fight defensively and he wasn't giving Jackson any opening to knock him out. It's easy to say that you want to knock someone out, but you have to have space to land that one big shot to send your opponent down.

Jackson hasn't knocked anyone out since Wanderlei Silva in December 2008.That only covers four fights, but it's still an alarming stat because of Jackson's knack for overpowering his opponents.

But there is a reason that Jackson is not able to knock his opponents out, and it has nothing to do with a drop in talent or power. It's more about the way that people are fighting him, at least according to Jackson.

From ESPN.com:

"I don't like the way I'm fighting now," Jackson said. "Everybody is trying to take me down and I can't go out there and keep fighting the same way of rushing guys.
"The first time I sparred in this training camp, I brought in some great wrestlers and rushed forward and they were taking me down. I thought, 'What am I doing? I have to sit back and counterpunch, defend the takedown.' When people are just wanting to take you down, you have to do things another way."

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A win is a win and Jackson shouldn't have to apologize to anyone for the way that he fought. He did exactly what he had to do against a good wrestler, and he has put himself in position to get a championship fight.

The decision victory, while not the most exciting win of Jackson's career, was a good showcase for the way that he has evolved. His takedown defense looked as good as it ever has and his striking was very good. Plus, he had a broken bone in his hand that sapped some of his power.

Jackson looked very good in defeating Hamill, and anyone who thinks that this was a "bad win" just doesn't like him for one reason or another and want to criticize him.

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