• UFC 135

Rampage 'ain't worried' by Jones' crazy spinning elbows

ESPN staff
August 11, 2011
Rampage Jackson plans to land on Jon Jones' chin when the pair meet at UFC 135 © UFC
Enlarge

Rampage Jackson insists he is "very confident" of beating Jon Jones at UFC 135, and he warned the champion he "ain't worried" by any of his weapons.

Rampage has been written off in several quarters ahead of the September 24 title collision, which sees Jones defend his belt for the first time. Jackson has already held the championship once, but still he is a heavy underdog to triumph in Denver.

None of that bothers Rampage though, who intends to cut directly through Jones' flamboyant approach with his hard-hitting boxing style. In the veteran's eyes, Jones has never been hit - even by Mauricio Shogun Rua - and that makes all the difference.

"Jon Jones is a good fighter, man, but the toughest person he ever fought [is] Vladimir Matyushenko," claimed Jackson. "But I could tell Vladimir wasn't on his game that day.

"And Shogun? Come on, Shogun just [came off] a long injury, [hadn't] fought for a while. That wasn't the same Shogun that won the belt, you know what I'm saying? Everybody knows that. If you know fighting, you know that.

"This guy has never been tested, never been hit. I ain't worried about his height, his reach. I ain't worried about none of that. I ain't worried about his crazy spinning elbow move, everything. We broke this guy down. It's going to be a good fight, no matter what."

Jones is fully expected to move past Rampage to a grudge meeting with Rashad Evans later this year, but Jackson is adamant he will put a major hole in those plans.

"I just want all my fans to know, don't worry about a thing. I got this. I'm training hard. This is the hardest I've trained in a long time. I'm taking it very, very serious. Don't worry about things people are saying out there.

"I want that belt back. That belt will be mine. It will be. I see it already. I'm very confident."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close