Time has come for UFC and Rampage Jackson to part ways

(Updated with comment from UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta at 7:47:42 ET on March 13, 2012)

There is a simple solution to the Quinton "Rampage" Jackson mess that, for some reason, is apparently being overlooked.

Cut him.

The UFC ought to sever ties with its mercurial former light heavyweight champion as quickly and completely as possible.

There is no good being done for any side in this equation by forcing an unhappy Jackson to fight the final bout on his UFC contract.

It certainly won't do Jackson any good to hang around. He's apparently had it with the UFC and has complained about the opponents matchmaker Joe Silva has picked for him to fight, his pay, and the seeming lack of gratitude UFC officials have shown him for fighting while injured.

Speaking to Bas Rutten on HDNet's "Inside MMA," Jackson said he is displeased that the UFC is matching him with wrestlers who don't want to fight. Four of his last five opponents were wrestlers, but there's more to the story than just the UFC putting him in against wrestlers.

On May 29, 2010, he lost to Rashad Evans in a battle for the No. 1 contender's spot at 205. He came back at UFC 123 on Nov. 20, 2010 with a win over karate expert Lyoto Machida in a battle between former champions looking to get back into the mix.

Next up, at UFC 130, was wrestler Matt Hamill on May 28, after a series of potential other opponents fell through. Beating Hamill earned (got?) Jackson a title shot against wrestler Jon Jones at UFC 135 on Sept. 24. After being submitted by Jones, the UFC put Jackson in against wrestler Ryan Bader on Feb. 26 at UFC 144 in Japan.

Jackson missed weight by five pounds in Japan, pointing to a knee injury suffered in training. He could have pulled out, but was so desperate to fight in Japan that he remained on the card. That was his choice, but now we're supposed to shower him with thanks because he did what nearly every one of his peers do every time they compete and went out and fought hurt?

Please.

Cutting Jackson would be the wise move for all parties, because Jackson clearly doesn't want to be around, he's no longer a particularly exciting fighter and all the attention being paid to his complaints takes attention away from those who could use it.

UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta said the company would not cut Jackson and said it would like to match him in the summer with former champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He said he disagrees with Jackson's complaints, but said "he's entitled to his opinion."

"He has one more fight on his contract and our position is that he's contractually obligated to take a fight and fulfill his obligation, just as he'd expect us to fulfill our obligation," Fertitta told Cagewriter. "He is, to some extent, still a draw. An interesting fight we'd like to make, one we've talked about, would be him and Shogun. I think that would be an interesting fight. They're both coming off a loss, they have a history and they have both expressed interest in the fight in the past. That would round out things in an interesting way."

Jackson did a lot for the UFC and deserves to be recognized for that. His knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 on May 26, 2007 is one of the seminal moments in Zuffa history and won't soon been forgotten. His fight with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 was breathtaking.

He was one of the stalwarts of the PRIDE Fighting Championship and should be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame based upon his achievements in the two organizations.

That, though, is for the future. For the present, Jackson is complaining about his lot in life, which is particularly galling considering his recent performances.

It's time UFC president Dana White ended the circus and cut Jackson.

Maybe that will make him happy.

Jackson only wants guys who will engage him in a slugfest and he wants to be hailed as a conquering hero for doing it. So maybe nothing will make him happy, because that's not life in one of the hottest divisions in MMA.

Perhaps Jackson will be energized fighting for Bellator or some other promotion. Perhaps he'll get back to being the fighter he was when he was an absolute can't miss.

It's debatable, but there is one thing that absolutely, unequivocally not:

The fight with Rua would be fascinating, but the time has come for the UFC to sever its ties with him.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/time-come-ufc-rampage-jackson-part-ways-223818298.html

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Eric Prindle wins Bellator tournament title without a fight

Eric Prindle won Bellator's heavyweight tournament, which includes a $100,000 prize and a shot at Bellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad. Prindle did this without having to step in the cage for a rematch of his final with Thiago Santos.

How did this happen? In the latest of weird bumps in the road between the two competitors, Santos missed weight by 12 pounds. With Santos so far over the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds, the fight was called off, and Prindle was declared the winner of the tournament.

Last week, their fight was delayed after Prindle came down with the flu. In November, they met in the cage for their first attempt at a final. That bout was declared a no contest when Santos threw an illegal kick to Prindle's groin.

Prindle got to the final with a decision win over Abe Wagner and a 40-second knockout of Ron Sparks. He will now face Konrad at a later date to challenge for the Bellator heavyweight belt.

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Alistair Overeem and Antonio Silva breakdown their upcoming fight - Strikeforce

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Matchmaker, matchmaker: Clay Guida and Rich Franklin get fights and a Bellator heavyweight final

The yentes at Bellator and the UFC spent their weekend putting together fights for your viewing pleasure. Here's a rundown of the latest:

-- Clay Guida and Gray Maynard will headline a UFC on FX event set for June 22. As the main event, the bout will be scheduled for five rounds. Guida's last fight was a loss to Benson Henderson in November, while Maynard lost a rematch with Frankie Edgar in October.

-- UFC 148 in July picked up a ton of fights. The Las Vegas card will now feature Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le, Renan Barao and his 31-fight winning streak against Jeff Hoaglund, and Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch.

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Pat Curran gets the belt and four new featherweight challengers at Bellator

HAMMOND, Ind. -- Bellator's season six started with a new champ, a terrible stoppage, and four featherweights getting closer to challenging for the belt.

Joe Warren started with a nasty takedown, and from the start, his wrestling controlled most of the bout. Curran's one big moment in the first round came when he knocked Warren down with a head kick, and followed it up with several strikes on the ground, but Warren survived. When Curran tried a flying knee, Warren used it for a takedown. Warren had more takedowns and control in the first round. Action slowed in the second round, as Warren was able to get takedowns, but not hold Curran down.

After Curran's corner told him he was down two rounds, he came out in the third round with full intent to end the fight. Curran's bevy of strikes put Warren against the fence. The fence was the only thing holding Warren up as he withstood several shots from Curran. The fight went on much longer than it needed to, and was finally stopped at 1:25 in the third round.

Warren went to the hospital after the bout. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said he was complaining of nausea and also had a hand injury. Rebney also said he was surprised the stoppage wasn't sooner.

"Watching it live and again on tape, yeah, it could have been stopped earlier," Rebney said.

Curran agreed.

"I knew I had him hurt. I could see in it in his eyes. They could have stopped it a little sooner."

Warren's last fight was a quick knockout, which caused Curran to think Warren couldn't survive many strikes. Though Curran won, he was impressed with Warren's chin.

"I was impressed with his chin and his heart. I thought he was going to have a glass jaw after that."

In earlier action in the featherweight tournament, Daniel Straus and Jeremy Spoon had a back and forth battle that went the full three rounds. Straus showed good takedown defense on his way to a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 decision win.

Hometown fighter Mike Corey stole the first round with a strong last thirty seconds, taking down Ronnie Mann and throwing several punches. Mann was saved by the bell. That turned the momentum in Corey's favor for the rest of the fight, as he used ground and pound to brutalize Mann on the way to a three-round decision win, 29-28 on all three judges' cards. Corey had taken the fight on short notice after Wagnney Fabiano was injured.

Marlon Sandro moved on n the featherweight tournament by landing punch combos and knees, then choking out Roberto Vargas at 3:35 in the first round. Afterwards, he celebrated by donning the centurion helmet and shield shown in Bellator's logo.

Alexandre "PoPo" Bezerra punched his ticket to the featherweight semifinals by making choking out Kenny Foster in the first round. After battering Foster for much of the round, Bezerra applied a rear naked choke with less than 10 seconds left in the round. Foster tapped as soon as it was applied, giving Bezerra the win at 4:57.

After the fights, Rebney announced the semifinals will pit Sandro vs. Bezerra and Straus vs. Corey.

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