[CL Ice]

NOTE: I, the threadstarter, in NOWAY have indicated this is fresh ****** or has never been viewed by the public. This is just a write-up straight from tsn.ca - Canada's Sports Leader!



LAS VEGAS (CP) - Some fight for a living. Quinton (Rampage) Jackson says he whups ass.

And Saturday night at UFC 71, Jackson looks to take down mixed martial arts superstar Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell - for a second time.

''My job is to excite everybody, put on a good show and whup some ass,'' Jackson told a news conference Thursday. ''That's what I get paid to do.''

Liddell, who has already endured a Jackson ass-whuppin', is looking for payback.

Jackson dominated Liddell en route to a TKO win in November 2003 at a Pride Fighting Championships tournament in Tokyo.





Liddell has not lost since and today rules the MMA world. But the Jackson loss still rankles. It's the only blemish on Liddell's record that has yet to be avenged and it's a fight that still makes for ugly viewing for The Iceman.

Jackson hurt Liddell with overhead rights in the first round, wobbling him at one stage, and took him down in the corner. In the second round, Jackson had Liddell backpedalling and then on the ground. He held the Iceman down and delivered more than 40 blows with fists, arms and knees before the fight was stopped.

Jackson, a 2-1 underdog, says he's ready for history to repeat itself,

''I just trained my butt off,'' he said. ''You guys can not believe all the stuff I've been doing. I hate training and I take it out on my opponents. So I feel bad for Chuck. It's going down.''

Trainer Juanito Ibarra confirmed putting Jackson through a brutal training camp in the high altitude of Big Bear in California.

''He hates me right now. Believe me,'' Ibarra said.

Liddell, who thumped another Big Bear boy in Tito Ortiz last time out, is unimpressed.

''Well if Quinton's going to come out and knock me out like he says he is, it's going to be a very exciting night,'' said Liddell. ''Pretty short, but very exciting.

''He's got a hard head and it's going to take a little hitting to get him out, but he's going to go down,'' Liddell added.

''Hey, that's the same thing you said last time we fought Chuck,'' Jackson replied.

''We'll see what happens this time,'' Liddell answered.

It could be an explosive fight. Jackson is a brute and Liddell could knock out a rhino.

Jackson, 28, has a good chin, punches hard and can take the fight out of opponents by slamming them into the canvas. Liddell, 37, is a knockout machine, able to blunt his opponents' takedowns while he waits for an opening to put them to sleep

Jackson, never short of a quip, has had fun this week downplaying Liddell's famed power.

''I don't remember getting hit real hard,'' he said of their first fight. ''I remember some fighters hitting me hard. After the fight it's like `damn, that guy hit me hard.' But I don't remember saying that about Chuck.

''But maybe he hit me so hard I forgot, I don't know. I just don't remember,''

Asked to rate Liddell's punching on a scale of one to 10, the quirky Jackson obliged - but chose to do it on a scale of one to 25.

''I'd probably give him like a five. I've been punched a lot harder than Chuck Liddell. Kevin Randleman punched me harder than Chuck Liddell.''

So how hard does Rampage punch?

''I've never been punched by me so I can't rate it at all,'' he answered.

Liddell (20-3-0) has won his last seven fights, all by KO or TKO since the Jackson loss. Jackson (26-6-0) is 7-3 since beating Liddell.

The first time they met was in a ring. This time it's a cage.

''It don't matter to me. I 'll fight in a phone booth if you pay me enough,'' said Jackson, who got his nickname from a cousin at age eight because of his explosive temper.

The first fight had more than a few subplots. Liddell says an injury affected his training.

''I think I had gotten pretty cocky and thought it wouldn't make a difference. It taught me a little humility.''

Liddell upgraded his training regimen after the loss.

Jackson also says he was not 100 per cent, with a respiratory problem due to running in poor air following California forest fires in 2003.

The first fight can probably be thrown out. At least that's the way Jackson sees it.

''Chuck don't say much. You never know what's going on inside that head,'' Jackson said. ''But whenever you beat the hell out of somebody, you're always inside their head anyway, no matter what. He's still human.

''I don't even think about that. I just know when you beat somebody. most of the time you've got to train harder so you can beat them again so that's what I'm doing.

After making his name in Pride, Jackson went to the World Fighting Alliance, which was bought out by the UFC late last year.

''The purchase of the WFA was for one reason and one reason only. And that was to get Quinton Jackson in the UFC,'' UFC president Dana White said.

Jackson pounded out an unspectacular TKO over Marvin (The Beastman) Eastman in his UFC debut at UFC 67 in February, citing nerves for what was essentially a routine performance. It was a showing that seemed a long way from his dominant days in Pride, but one White explains by saying Jackson tends to fight to the level of his opponent.

Jackson wanted a few more fights before the Liddell rematch, saying it would build their rivalry and introduce him to new fans of the sports who had not followed him in Japan.

The UFC, needing an opponent for their marquee champion, ignored his suggestion.

There is no bad blood between these two. Liddell clearly gets a kick out of Jackson's sense of humour and Jackson sees The Iceman as The Man. This fight is just business.

And business is good for the UFC these days. The organization is glowing over mainstream acceptance, with a cover story in Sports Illustrated and ESPN carrying Friday's weigh-in live.

Liddell is a large part of the reason why.

''What Chuck has right now is that Mike Tyson aura about him. He's invincible. People love to show up to see how fast he's going to knock people out,'' said White.

Whatever happens Saturday, White says he has a mystery fighter ready to call the winner out. A rubber match between Liddell and Jackson is also a possibility.

Still, White acknowledges Liddell has all but cleaned out the 205-pound division. A win over Jackson and he might look elsewhere to test himself against the likes of heavyweights Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic and Fedor Emelianenko.

Liddell says he has not plans to quit yet, saying he will continue ''as long as my body will let me.''

'' I love fighting I'm at the top of my game right now, so it hasn't slipped off yet. Hopefully a long time.''

''Ask him again on Sunday,'' Jackson interjected.

Notes: Two Canadians are on Saturday's card. Kalib Starnes of Surrey, B.C., takes on middleweight Chris Leben while Toronto-born Seattle-based middleweight Ivan Salaverry tackles Terry Martin.