Fear, Terror, and Fascination

The wolf usually evokes in us a mix of fear, terror, and fascination: fear and terror mainly because of the animal’s power and ferocity, fascination because of its unparalleled cunning.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson evokes a heady mix of fear, terror, and fascination when he fights. His innate slamming ability is evidence of his power and ferocity; the way he switches from powerful striker to crafty wrestler - as the fight and opponent dictates - is proof of his cunning.

And when we hear Jackson’s patented wolf howl after a victory, the similarity between man and beast is driven home.

Rampage will need all his strength, power, and cunning when he faces Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva across the Octagon at UFC 92.

Silva is known for his intensity, striking power, technique, and world-class experience. But most importantly, the Axe Murderer enjoys a psychological edge over Jackson. The two fighters last met each other four years ago during their PRIDE days when Jackson challenged Silva for the PRIDE Middleweight Championship. Silva won the bout via TKO in the first round.

Both fighters have tasted victory and defeat in their UFC careers. Although Jackson lost his title in his last fight against Forrest Griffin, he holds one of the biggest victories in his UFC career when he TKO’d perennial crowd favorite Chuck Liddell in their rematch last year at UFC 71. It was a short fight to say the least, after Rampage caught Liddell with an overhand right to the jaw as the latter threw a looping left hook to Jackson’s body.

Silva, for his part, had a very short night as well against Keith Jardine in UFC 84 just this year. Jardine fights a very unorthodox style but Silva successfully neutralized this. As Jardine threw a kick, Silva threw a flurry of punches, one of which landed smack on Jardine’s temple. Jardine went down but stood back up quickly. He ate a left from Silva and went down again. Silva swarmed on Jardine, pounding him on the ground, looking to finish. This prompted the referee to stop the fight.

Fight fans can’t wait for December 27. It is once again time for Quinton Jackson to display his trademark power, ferocity, and cunning.

Whether we will hear Jackson’s patented wolf howl remains to be seen. Especially since Wanderlei Silva will do everything in his power to prevent that from happening.