‘Rampage’ loses UFC finale, goes down swinging
CHICAGO – As Quinton “Rampage” Jackson walked with his entourage out of United Center on Saturday night, he yelled out to anyone who was listening: “You’re going to miss me.”
Then he exited the arena and, in all likelihood, left the Ultimate Fighting Championship for good.
Jackson lost a unanimous decision to Glover Teixeira on the UFC on Fox 6 card, his third straight defeat. The fight was the last on Jackson’s contract with the UFC, and he repeatedly has said he has no intention of re-signing.
Teixeira and Jackson spent much of their light heavyweight bout trading punches at the center of the cage. Teixeira’s shots seemed to do more damage, and the Brazilian took down Jackson at least once in each round to gain the advantage on the scorecard.
Jackson expressed pride in his performance despite the loss.
“I kinda wish I fought smart and didn’t get hit so much, but I always said I would rather lose a good fight than win a boring-ass one - and the fans are telling me that was an exciting fight,” Jackson said. “So I guess I’m sad, but not so sad. I fought like Rampage tonight. I tried to knock him out with every punch. Wasn’t so smart, but if it was fun for the fans, I will take that and be OK with that.
“I’m happy to end on an exciting fight for (the fans). I came into the UFC exciting and I left exciting.”
The victory by Teixeira was his 18th in a row and third since signing with the UFC after several years of frustration because of visa issues that delayed his jump to the organization.
“Rampage has been a top-10 guy for maybe nine years, and it was a big win for me,” Teixeira said. “After all those years when I couldn’t fight the big names, it is great to fight the biggest names in the sport.”
In the main event, Demetrious Johnson retained the UFC flyweight title with a unanimous decision over John Dodson.
Johnson struggled to defend against Dodson’s left hand early, getting caught trying to come forward on several occasions.
“In the beginning, I was trying to find him. I was getting too greedy, and he was doing a really good job of catching me,” Johnson said. “My coaches told me I had to circle left. I was circling right, which is a big no-no against a southpaw.”
Johnson’s plan all along was to come forward to close the distance, and once he was able to do that, the fight turned immediately.
He was able to inflict a great deal of damage with his knees at close range. In the fourth round, Johnson caught Dodson in a headlock near the cage and rotated knee strikes to the head and body. It was more of the same in the fifth, as Johnson wrapped up a Thai clinch on Dodson and hammered him with knee strikes as he pulled the challenger’s head downward.
One of the knees was deemed illegal, but Johnson received a warning instead of a point deduction, which is at the referee’s discretion. If he’d been docked a point, the final result would have been a majority draw, but Johnson would have retained the belt.
The outcome was far different from the first two rounds, which Dodson won on two of three scorecards. He dropped Johnson on several occasions but never could finish.
“I wasn’t surprised by his power at all,” Johnson said. “I told everyone all week that he has power, but you need to have more than power to win a fight. It’s going to come down to technique and conditioning and all those other things, and it did.”
Also on the main card, Anthony Pettis and Ricardo Lamas turned in spectacular performances to stake their claim to title shots.
Pettis bounced off the cage before landing a knee to the head of Donald Cerrone, then finished the fight moments later with a devastating liver kick midway through the opening round.
Pettis probably will get the next shot at the lightweight belt after Benson Henderson puts the title on the line against Gilbert Melendez.
Lamas, from Chicago, was equally impressive against top featherweight contender Erik Koch, gaining his fourth straight win. After a competitive first round, Lamas landed a series of brutal short elbows from top position to rip Koch’s face apart and stop the fight.
Clay Guida, Pascal Krauss and David Mitchell won decisions on the undercard. Ryan Bader and Rafael Natal won by submissions, and Shawn Jordan and T.J. Grant gained knockouts.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.