Assessing the Situation – Rampage

[Glen_S-R]

I like the “Wandy beat the Rampage, out of Rampage,” or the “Rampage really changed when he took that beating from Chute Box,” post that’s a real intelligent and logical way to approach and assess his recent performances. Indeed because of those two men Rampage will loose to Chuck for sure…. I would like to think that he took away from that fight and learned something. I mean what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger is the day old argument. But with all that being said it is your opinion and you are free to state your opinion. But let’s take a look at those fights. Now I’m a Rampage fan, But even I will admit Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua did put a beating on him, and after watching the fights I’ve realize something that I would like to share, so come along with me.

His fight with Wanderlei he was out worked and out striked. Wanderlei closed the gap and unloaded knees into Rampage, thus nullifying what chances Rampage had to strike cause he had to block knees. When I watched the fight with Mauricio Rua I noticed the same thing. Shogun quickly moved in closing the gap and took away Rampages chance to strike. Watching the Shogun - Rampage fight it was like watching Wanderlei - Rampage I, both men did an excellent job closing the gap, taking away his chance to strike. Now I might be wrong but I think Rampage said one time that he was very uncomfortable in the clinch, again I might be wrong but he did look once they locked him in one it was over.

The point I’m trying to make is Chuck Liddell is the opposite of these fighters, at least from what I’ve seen he likes to distance him with the jab and then throw combos, and big shots when he feels there is an opening to do so. Again I could be wrong, Trying to find fights on the internet is hard when you don’t know where to look, and a lot of stores around me don’t really carry the fights so it’s hard to make a proper assessment, but I’m only pointing out what I’ve seen. One style didn’t match up so well with Rampage and as a result he was out classed. Chuck is an excellent striker no doubt about that but so is Rampage when he gets the chance to strike. Chuck has excellent take down defense but Rampage has excellent wrestling and was able to hold Chuck down before, yea that was some years ago but you still have to take it into consideration. Chuck’s footwork has improved and he has proven that he can hit from different angles, all it takes is a well placed punch and it’s over I.E The Punch Wanderlei delivered to Rampage that opened up a door for a flurry.

Who’s going to win? I’m not at liberty to say but it will be no secret that I’m rooting for Rampage. I’m just saying anything could happen, and I mean anything Dan “Hollywood” Henderson one of my favorite fighters beat Wanderlei, let’s be real how many people picked him to win that fight. Regardless it should be a good fight emphases on the SHOULD BE because they hyped it up so much it would be a disappointment if it didn’t live up to that hype I.E the Diego – Koscheck fight and the real losers would be the fans. It’s cliché but it’s true.

[asugar]

I am looking forward to it as well.
I want to see if Chuck really has moved on since then, which I think he has, judging from his fights with Randy.

Its gonna be a great one, hopefully.
2 round TKO WAR LIDDELL!

[schz]

good post man, valid points.

something interesting is that in his last fight with eastman, although everyone says he looked awful, he won the fight with an uppercut in the clinch, in addition to that he tried to get a muay thai clinch on eastman more than once. all that tells me hes been working on the damn clinch, which is what everyone from me to bas have always said he needs to do.

one thing i dont like, after he got eastman with the uppercut, he clocked him once good while on the floor and then looked at big john...

awesome display of sportsmanship,... but this is the same man who hit arona square on the head 4 times, after he had just slammed thru the mat. i dont know what to think about it, ive never seen chuck take any pity on anyone, even randy who everyone loves got hit a few times after he was out by chuck.

i dont know if this only-violent-enough-to-win shit is gonna cut it once you get in there with chuck, id feel more comfortable if he still had the assassin in him.

[Kardon]

Nice post.

I think Quinton will win but would by no means be surprise if Chuck wins by tko/ko.

Awesome fight and honestly one of the first fights in a long time that I'm really looking forward to watching.

Quinton,fourth round tko

[Glen_S-R]

Agreed, I would be shooting my mouth off more if it was the Rampage that dried humped Reporters and talked sh'it about his opponent before the fight. The stuff he said about Wanderlei was gold. I know none of that matteres but looking at him back then and looking at him now you can tell he isn't the same person. Needless to say it's something to do with him, not how bad a beating Wanderlei and Shogun put on him. As Schz pointed out his fight with Eastmen he was trying to work the clinch a lot more, something his Chute Box counter parts have worked on him effectivly. Again I liked to think he took away from those fights as a learning experiance rather than a negitive one

[DaMadMonk]

Excellent point about how Silva/Shogun strike in close range where as Liddell is more of a long range attacker.

I remember hearing that Liddell likes to hit his opponents at the end of his punches.

[NHB7]

I agree with you that Chuck's striking is very different than a chute box striker, nonetheless, what I'm afraid Chute box stole from Rampage is his willingness to engage. I think he may be a more tentative striker now. He hasn't had a whole lot of fights for us to see if that is true, but he was less willing to engage against eastman. Nonetheless, he admitted to fight jitters for that fight which may explain it.

Anyway, I don't blame his lack of willingness to engage on his loss to Wandy and Shogun. I blame it on his losses to Wandy I, Wandy II, Ninja (by Rampages own admission he lost that fight, and if he lost in his own mind then he lost) and his loss to shogun. Those 4 losses came when he tried to stand and strike and got out struck, thus I think he is going to be overly cautious now. That doesn't mean he will be a bad striker just more tentative. And if you want to win against Chuck on the feet you need to be the aggressor (Not like Babalu, but like Courture 1).

[DaMadMonk]

BTW, if that was your first post at Sherdog, that was the best Whitebelt post I've seen in a while.

[NHB7]

Originally Posted by DaMadMonk

BTW, if that was your first post at Sherdog, that was the best Whitebelt post I've seen in a while.

Youll notice he has a Jan sign up date which means he waited 5 months to make his first post. That's a white belt that learned before he made a thread.

[JaeBlaze]

But Yall Gotta Understand He Lost to Knees Those Knees Were Lethal i think he might be Able To With Stand His Punches Throw Some Combos And Set up The Take down....1