UFC: Rampage Jackson Is the Perfect Opponent for Glover Teixeira

There are two 205-pound dogs that have been staring through the proverbial cage at one another now for much of 2012. Finally, if the rumblings are to be believed, they’ll get their paws on one another before long.

Newcomer wrecking ball Glover Teixeira—a man many believe could be only a win or two away from a title shot despite only two UFC fights—will face former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at the earliest agreeable convenience for both men.

And it’s the perfect fight for Teixeira.

The reality is that Jackson has looked to be past his expiration date over the past year. He missed weight and was dismantled by Ryan Bader in February, and he has spent most of the campaign on the sidelines nursing injuries and doing his fighting on the battlefield of Twitter.

Fights with Shogun Rua and Teixeira were both been scrapped due to Jackson’s injuries, though those injuries did little to quell his desires to rag on Chael Sonnen, boring fighters, certain types of fans and the UFC in general.

Definitely not a banner year for the first man to unify PRIDE and UFC gold.

Even still, he’s a big name and a guy that draws eyes to the Octagon whenever he steps through the gate. He’s also looking to fight someone who’ll throw caution to the wind and slug it out with him (perhaps because he can’t beat wrestlers anymore, perhaps because he wants to retire on an exciting note—no one really knows for sure).

Enter Teixeira, a Chuck Liddell training partner who does things in the cage with such bad intentions, such genuine menace, that there may not be a more intimidating man in the sport.

Yes, there are better athletes. Yes, there are men with better historical track records. Yes, there are guys who have fought higher-calibre competition.

But no one has shown more ruthless, reckless violence in 2012. There’s no poetry to what Teixeira does—he’s no Jon Jones or Anderson Silva—there is only chaos. The man sets his sights on going through you, and then he does it.

That’s what makes this the perfect fight.

The only remaining knock on Teixeira is that he hasn’t collected a signature win. The only thing Rampage wants is a guy who’ll come in and brawl with him. Should they meet, you’d have to like the chances of each man getting what they want and need.

Teixeira could use a good performance as a springboard into title contention, while Rampage could get a blood-and-guts brawl to either rejuvenate his career or end it on his own terms.

For the UFC, they have a chance to push a new contender into the mix with a Teixeira win or celebrate a former champion back from the dead if Rampage derails the hype train.

It’s absolutely a no-lose situation.

So let’s get this out of the land of hypotheticals, trash-tweeting and hearsay and into the land of signing contracts, setting dates and seeing carnage.

There’s too much to love about this matchup not to.