Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson managed to outwork Fabio Maldonado tonight at UFC 186 with forward momentum and a greater volume of strikes helping him to secure a unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Rampage out quickly and fires out the right hand. Leg kick for Maldonado in return. Rampage taking the center of the cage though and throws an uppercut.
Maldonado with a short flurry of punches. Rampage uses a couple of punches to land a solid leg kick. Now he’s into the clinch against the cage and lands a knee to the body. He lands a punch to the body and then seperates.
Rampage with a hard left to the body. He connects with a knee to the midsection now. Maldonado tries to target the body with a punch.
Rampage rifles off a three punch flurry including an uppercut. Maldonado takes it though. Maldonado lands to the body with a straight punch.
Now Rampage charges forward with a couple of punches. Left hook lands for Rampage and that might have dazed Maldonado a little. Rampage senses it and fires off a barrage of blows as Maldonado covers up defensively against the cage.
Rampage into the clinch and Maldonado has time to get his bearings and then reverses the position. He targes the body, but not much behind the shots. Rampage pushes him off and they get back to striking. Rampage lands a leg kick. Rampage steps in nicely with punches to the body.
Maldonado forward with a solid hook. Rampage back on the offensive now and he ends the round with a rare head kick attempt.
Round Two:
Rampage pistons out the left hand. Maldonado tries a brief flurry and Rampage is back with more power behind his shots. Maldonado waves him forward, clearly up for the battle.
Maldonado clinching Rampage up against the cage now. Rampage lands a knee to the body. Maldonado with a few short strikes inside before Rampage gets away.
Rampage missing on a big hook attempt. Maldonado in close again, landing an uppercut to the chin as he backs Rampage up against the cage. A little bit of in-fighting and then they move away.
Maldonado looking to land, but Rampage rolls and then comes up with strikes of his own. Maldonado is managing to get into the dirty boxing range he likes, but Rampage shows he’s happy there as he cracks off a few hard blows to the body.
Maldonado works Rampage to the cage again and lands a few punches to the body. Rampage with a short uppercut inside. Now a knee. He skiffs on a hook and Maldonado works to the body again.
Back to the center of the cage and Maldonado is looking to exchange with Rampage rolling away from some shots. Rampage landing a kick. Maldonado with his short shots and Rampage hits back harder with his own punches. Nice work, but Maldonado isn’t phased, tapping his chin and motioning Rampage on.
Rampage backing Maldonado up with a few more punches. Then as the round draws towards a conclusion Maldonado suddenly lands a nice trip takedown and ends the round on top.
Round Three:
Rampage letting his hands go again to start the third. Maldonado with a solid left and tries to work to the body again. Rampage with a leg kick and then in with a few punches before backing up again.
Right hand for Maldonado and then a right to the body. Maldonado misses on a hook attempt. Rampage with a blistering right hand to the body. Maldonado with a flurry of jabs, but Rampage avoids with head movement.
A leg kick from Rampage. Maldonado with a crisp jab to the head. Rampage with a hook that grazes his opponent and Maldonado’s mouthpiece falls out, but is quickly replaced by the ref.
Maldonado grazes with a jab. Rampage tries a head kick, but nothing doing. Maldonado doubles up on the jab. Rampage blasts Maldonado with about five punches in a row. Maldonado’s mouthpiece out again, then back in.
Good punch to the body from Maldonado but Rampage makes him pay with a few strikes to the head. Rampage with a kick.
Maldonado with a short flurry to set up a clinch against the cage. More little shots inside, but nothing too meaningful.
They break apart and Rampage lands a leg kick that’s almost caught. Elbow inside from Rampage. He lands a few punches in close. Another good combo from Rampage and Maldonado is back taunting him again.
Maldonado into the clinch again and Rampage gets a good elbow in there before they move away. Rampage a bit annoyed that Maldonado is backing away in the final seconds and tries to land one final blow before the bell sounds.
Round Three:
Rampage didn’t get a big finish for his return to the UFC, but he worked hard over the course of three rounds and deserved his unanimous decision victory (29-28, 30-27 x2).
