When the history books are written, hundreds of years from now it would be impossible not to give Quinton Jackson a chapter or two, becoming a global star in the heyday of Pride Fighting Championship’s in Japan the big, mean, slammin’ machine became a household name.
The stardom of the thirteen year veteran of the sport continued to soar when he made the trek to North America unifying the UFC light-heavyweight and Pride middleweight championships while having a number of big-money matches for the top-ranked fight organization.
After his last defeat to two-time NCAA Division I All-American Ryan Bader in the land of the rising sun he stated that he had no interest in fulfilling the last fight on his contract with the UFC, instead would rather walk away.
It took UFC President Dana White to twist his arm a little for the 34-year-old to agree to finish up his deal with the organization, but he wasn’t given an easy task for his swan song.
Glover Teixeria had long been considered as one of the best fighters in the world not employed by the UFC, unbeaten since 2005 the powerful Brazilian had been kept away from North America for almost four years due to visa issues.
Finally, the fight fanatics that were salivating to see Teixeria join the UFC’s 205-pound ranks got their wish in May at UFC 146 with the John Hackleman-trained fighter dismantling Kyle Kingsbury, submitting him in less than two minutes with an arm-triangle.
The Brazilian got a lot of media attention when Dana White mentioned to the media that Mauricio “Shogun” Rua turned down a fight with his fellow countrymen that just continued to build the aura of invincibility around him.
A win over Jackson who fought for all the marbles at 205-pounds last September throws him head-first into the top of the division and it seems that fans, media personnel and odds makers alike have co-signed on this.
Today the opening line for their UFC 153 fight in Rio De Janero, Brazil was released with Teixeria being a two-to-one favorite heading into this fight.
Entering your final fight on your deal with the UFC and leaving with your hand raised is something nobody has been able to pull off, Roger Huerta was the last as he planned on doing more scripted, choreographed fighting in Hollywood.
The Sport’s Illustrator cover-boy was handed a tough task in UFC lightweight title-challenger Gray Maynard who grinded out a hard-fought decision over his Mexican-American foe.
While I do believe that Teixeria is ready to tangle with the top of the division at light-heavyweight, it would be a mistake to count your chickens before they hatch, especially when dealing with a dangerous power-puncher like Jackson.
“Rampage” hasn’t left the eight-sided cage with a smile on his face and his hands rose in the air since he dominated a one-sided fight over Matt Hamill but a motivated, in shape Jackson can give any fighter fits.
Motivation should not be a factor here, even though it’s probably unlikely that Jackson has any idea who Teixeria is I’m sure he would love nothing more than to exit the UFC with a win bonus to one-up the UFC figurehead.
If a hungry, well-trained “Rampage” shows up to play on October 13 there is a fair chance his pricetag will be significantly higher when every fight promoter in the world has his phone ringing off the hook.
______________________________________________________________________________
Follow @justinfauxmma on Twitter and keep up with the latest news by following @MMASucka on Twitter and on Facebook
