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'Embarrassed' Rampage calls out Forrest and Rashad

ESPN staff
June 17, 2010
Rampage Jackson claims Rashad Evans went into their fight happy hug him for three rounds © UFC
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Rampage Jackson plans to make up for the 'most embarrassing fight' of his career by rematching Forrest Griffin, and then taking revenge over Rashad Evans.

Jackson is gutted that he played a part in what he labels a 'boring' fight against Evans, which saw "Suga" Rashad triumph via unanimous decision. Rampage is adamant it wasn't a true defeat, and he is promising to wear the snuggy that became so prominent during the Countdown show if Rashad can repeat the victory.

"Rashad won fair and square under the rules. He didn't fight, he didn't win no fight, but he won the match under the rules," said the former UFC light-heavyweight champion.

"I refuse to turn into one of those fighters. Rashad can say he won with a smart gameplan, but you can only do that so many times until the fans don't want to see you again. As bad as I feel for losing, I actually feel terrible that it was so boring. Honestly, I wouldn't feel this bad had I got knocked out in a great fight. At least I would feel I had not let anyone down had I just got caught with a shot.

"But I feel we both lost the fight because neither of us backed up our trash talk. No-one will watch you if you keep doing that. I am embarrassed by that fight. I am sorry for the fans. It was the fight of my life, but it was the most boring fight of my career and I feel bad about it.

"I want my fans to know I owe them one and I will make it up to them. But at least I tried to finish it. It is so hard to fight someone who's not come for a fight but for 15-minutes of man-love."

Jackson now has a clear two-fight plan. First he wants to beat the man who took away his title, and then he wants to fight Evans - title or no title - to erase the lowest moment of his career.

"Forrest comes to fight with a great gameplan, but at the same time he's always in exciting fights. He had a great plan for me, kicking my legs, and even though I feel I won that fight it was close and he did hurt me bad in there. I respect the guy and want to fight him again. It would be an exciting fight and I owe my fans that.

Rampage came close to finishing Rashad in the third round © UFC
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"Rashad owes it to his fans, too, and I want to fight him again after his title fight and after I fight Forrest.

"Rashad made a huge deal about the Snuggy (a comfort blanket he promised Rampage would need after their first fight). He made a huge deal about it. But he knew his whole plan was to hug me and man-love me. If we ever see each other again in the Octagon, if he beats me convincingly - and he's a great fighter so he can do it - I will put the Snuggy on right there in the Octagon and will walk around in it and go the press conference in it and also attend the after party in it.

"Don't talk trash if you won't touch the line with yo' ass."

Rampage's ring-rust was brought about by a lengthy period away from the Octagon filming the "A-Team" movie. Despite the loss to Evans, Jackson has no regrets about his Hollywood role, and he encourages all UFC fans to make sure they go and see him take MMA to the big screen.

"MMA fans are going to love it. It is a real action film and it was actually made by a guy - Joe Carnahan - who is a die-hard MMA fan. He knew more about the history of MMA than I did, and he goes to all the UFCs.

"The fights in the movie are very cool. With the hand-to-hand stuff we didn't do no flying wires or kung-fu, we did real stuff you could see me do in the Octagon. I thought the stunt coordinator would ask me to do crazy stuff, but as a fighter, I can say all the fights are realistic, like there's no crazy flying kicks. All the ass-kicking is serious, for real!

"I want all my MMA fans to go see this movie. Go see it twice! Once to go see me kick some ass, the second time to really watch the story because this is an action film where the characters really mean something to each other. I'm very proud to have done this movie. It is something my dad is very proud of and that makes it very special to me. I want all my fans to go see it because I know they are going to love it. Get your friends together, get some popcorn and go see Rampage kick some ass on a big-ass screen!"

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