Rampage vs. Wanderlei: A Look Back Before Their Ultimate Showdown

Certain men’s careers seem destined for a collision course; intertwining their fates as fighters. Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva are two such fighters. Both men have great pride. And, because of that, they have a history together.

Four years after their second fight, they will collide for a third and ultimate time. But, to truly get a sense for what their fight at UFC 92 is all about, you have to go back to the days of PRIDE.

When Jackson stepped into the ring against Silva, he was only 25 years old. He had the air of a young, cocky phenom. But he had already been in 22 MMA fights. He had also been in the PRIDE organization for over two years, compiling a 6-2 record. Rampage had accrued some impressive wins, including a TKO victory over Kevin Randleman.

Silva, who was twenty-seven at the time, was already a veteran of PRIDE. The clash with Jackson would be his 16th with the organization and the 28th of his career. He had a win over Dan Henderson and two victories over the “The Gracie Killer” Kazushi Sakuraba. He had also fought Mirko “Cro Cop” to a draw.

The valor of both men seemed to be at a peak coming into their match. But the battle would end shortly with Wanderlei proving his supremacy. Silva inundated his opponent with a barrage of vicious knees that left Jackson punch drunk. The referee had no choice but to wave of “The Axe Murderer” as Rampage was cut to the canvas floor, a wilted warrior.

A year passed between their first and second fight. In that time the two fighters compiled a combined 6-0 record. Jackson had impressive wins over Chuck Liddell and of course the “slam heard round the world” against Ricardo Arona. Silva was busy stomping out Yuki Kondo in a brief but exciting stand up war. If you haven’t seen any of these fights then please Google now.

Jackson’s win over Arona and Silva’s win over Kondo set the stage for their rematch on Halloween night at Pride 28: High Octane. Coming into the fight they were the most popular non-Japanese fighters in the Pride organization. The stare down was classic.

The fight was quite different then the first. Jackson and Silva went toe to toe, taking turns looking like the eventual winner. The result was the same though. Silva, once again, unleashed his lethal knees, this time sending Jackson through the ropes of the cage, spewing blood.

Rampage went on to have four more fights in Pride. Losing to Mauricio Rua seemed to signal the beginning of the end though. Wanderlei finished out his Pride career going 4-4, most markedly losing back-to-back fights against Mirko “Cro Cop” and Dan Henderson before joining the UFC.

We are all probably more familiar with that has transpired during their short UFC careers. Ironically, they would both go on to fight Chuck Liddell. Jackson taking the title from Liddell with one vicious shot while Wanderlei lost to Chuck in an epic stand up war.

The third fight between these two warriors will be the most defining in their trilogy. A win should position either fighter for a title shot against the winner of Griffin/Evans, who are fighting on the same night.

So who is a loss more devastating to? One would have to think it would be more so for Jackson. He is already coming off a controversial loss to Forrest Griffin. After the fight he reportedly went on a bender of energy drinks while dieting on very little sleep.

One has to wonder about the mental state of Rampage, especially if he were to lose a third fight to Silva. Wanderlei on the other hand seems to be unphased by the ups and downs of his career.

I will not give my prediction on the fight in this article. The fight is too far out for that. I just wanted to start the hype for what I believe will be the best fight at Ultimate 2008. That and I had some time to kill as we all wait for the inevitability that is UFC 91.

Brian Oswald is a new staff writer for Inside Fights. For all the latest in MMA news please check out the site!