Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Dana White have some personality similarities. It's probably why the fighter and UFC owner bicker quite often. They both say what they feel and there isn't much of a filter.
Jackson won a narrow decision over Lyoto Machida at UFC 123, but was stunned when the announcement was made. Just seconds earlier, he was getting punched in the grill and losing the third round. His reaction added to the controversial nature of the decision and it didn't please his boss.
"Me and Rampage are getting along OK, but he pisses me off again," White said at the UFC 123 postfight press conference (2:15 mark -- video). "I had Rampage winning that fight two rounds to one. I scored that fight for Rampage. Rampage is slumping down and raising the other guy's hand and acting like he lost. I thought he won the fight."
It didn't seem like Jackson did anything wrong. After escaping with a tight decision win, it's pretty rare for a fighter to show that kind of honesty and class.
Forty-five minutes later, when Jackson entered the presser, he was in apology mode.
"I'm sorry man. I had just gotten done getting punched in the face a couple times," Jackson said (7:52 mark). "Don't pay me no mind.
"When I was in the fight I had a one-track mind, you know knockin' him out. In the third round, when he dominated me so much, I forgot what happened in the first two rounds. ... It's one of those things, at the time I thought I got my ass whooped because I was just getting up off the ground and he [just] ran a flurry up on my face."
That seems plausible. Jackson was probably a little stunned. With all the adrenaline flowing right after a match, fighters are speaking with raw emotion.
White looked at the entirety of the fight and liked what Rampage did over 15 minutes.
"That's not the fight I saw. He definitely put on that burst where he landed five or six punches and definitely rocked him. You don't win a fight off four or five punches," said White.
Scoring is very subjective. Some judges, media members and fans like Octagon control and counterstriking. Others favor the man pushing the action. Compustrike backed the judges and White. Jackson outlanded Machida 59-38 in a fight that spent 12:28 of 15 minutes on the feet.
"Rampage was the aggressor. He moved forward the entire fight. Everytime Lyoto would go with that leg kick, he'd fire and go after him," said White. "I 100 percent had Rampage winning the first two rounds and had the third round going to Machida. Again, nobody gives a [expletive] what I think, but I'm not a judge. But that's how I scored the fight."
In the seconds following the fight, Jackson said several times that Machida deserved a rematch. White emphatically shot down that idea (6:10 mark).
"No, no," said White when asked about Rampage-Machida II. "As far as I'm concerned, and apparently as far as the judges are concerned, Rampage won that fight."
White then repeated his displeasure of Jackson's postfight behavior.
"Rampage is in there raising [Machida's] hand, slumping down, acting bummed out, acting surprised when he won," White said. "He won two rounds. It's a three-round fight. He won two of them."
With White in his presence during the presser, Jackson made sure not to repeat the rematch offer.
"This ain't my show. I don't own UFC homey. I just fight here," said Jackson (8:30).Jackson also revealed that he almost had to back out of the fight after coming down with a stomach ailment he'd caught from his kids.
"Dana's always been there for me. Even if we don't see eye to eye all the time," Jackson said (9:40 mark). "I just couldn't tell Dana 'I cant make this fight because I'm sick.' He probably would've cussed me the [expletive] out."Jackson comes out a big winner from this fight. He didn't complain about Machida's counterstriking style, as so many others have done. Fans who thought it was a boring fight should listen to Jackson when he says Machida is a beast. Jackson's reaction probably saved the Brazilian's reputation a bit too.
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