Legends MMA Training Facility Los Angeles, CA – In an effort to promote the most star-filled MMA card in California, WFA held a press day inviting the usual MMA media and even local News media including the Channel 9 News.
MMA-Fighter.com got a chance to talk to the always gregarious Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Jackson headlines the event taking on top five 185er Matt “the Law” Lindland. Jackson is happy about his training, “Best I’ve felt in a long time,” but not that excited about his opponent. He thinks Matt is a “boring fighter” and would rather “fight a fighter that would stand up with me not hug me the whole time.”
Although he is not a part of Team Punishment Quinton enjoys training in Big Bear with fellow 205er Tito Ortiz but would he fight him? “If we were getting paid a couple million dollars each and we could sit back and laugh about it later I wouldn’t be his friend if I wouldn’t fight him… If we can both make 5 to 6 million dollars each who wouldn’t?”
Rampage is happy about being the headliner of the WFA and has no regrets about leaving Pride but I was surprised when he told me he had never talked with the UFC. “UFC didn’t offer me anything that I’m aware of.” And when I asked about UFC’s possible match up of Liddell and Silva he felt that Liddell had the advantage due to his wrestling but “Vanderlei hits harder…”. Would he fight Vanderlei again? “Yeah hell yeah I want to DESTROY that guy… I Must Break You….”
Also on the Card is the match up of second best self promoting MMA fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs The Ultimate Fighter Reality star and WEC 205 Champion Lodune “the Vanilla Gorilla” Sincaid. Miller feels that he is a bad match up for Sincaid. “I can out-grapple him and out-strike him and on top of that I think I can out-wrestle him.”
Although Mayhem is fighting Lodune at 205, he doesn’t feel that his future is at this weight. “I normally walk around at 204 when I eat normally… My future is at 185.” Although his first fight in the UFC was at 170 he feels that he has out grown that weight class. “170 was like I was a teenage girl who wasn’t a hot chick yet… I still had my braces on… I was going thru my mixed martial arts puberty.”
Although Mayhem has been training with the best camps that the west coast has to offer including Team Punishment with Tito Ortiz and Team Quest with Dan Henderson, Jason’s training partners haven’t always been this good. “I was watching tapes and wrestling my friends in the garage… I probably knew like 4 moves back then but I still do them today”
Tito Ortiz was also at the event doing interviews for anyone that would ask him a question. He was particularly fired up when asked about the early stoppage in his fight with Ken Shamrock at UFC 61. “I thought he was out. I think Herb Dean saved his life. He was like 3 elbows away from dying possibly. The first shot I hit him with he was out. His legs were open, his eyes were closed, and he wasn’t trying to clinch when the fight was stopped… I was gonna try to hurt him really really bad, like I said in my interview after the fight, I wanted to be the first person in the UFC to hurt someone really, really bad, I want to put him the hospital for a really, really long time. I was gonna do that to Shamrock that night… Shamrock is History to me”
He thinks his next opponent is going to be Forrest Griffin but he wouldn’t’ mind taking on Vanderlie Silva again. “I sent his ass to Japan once I’ll do it again.”
Brad Doerges
brad@mma-fighter.com
Jason “Mayhem” Miller
http://mma-fighter.com/downloads/interviews/audio/Mayhem.mp3
Tito Ortiz
http://mma-fighter.com/downloads/interviews/audio/Tito_Ortiz.mp3
