Cage Talk – MMA – All The Latest Mixed Martial Arts News

Is it just me or does Anderson Silva come across as immature in this interview? He seems to speak decent English when he wants to, but other times doesn’t and gives vague and short answers.

Silva will have his hands his full with Chael Sonnen in August. If he can defend his UFC middleweight title we might see another fight at 205 later this year.  Maybe it will be a shot at the LWH title?

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Chuck is shredded.

HT: twitter.com/chuckliddell

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BLACK-ON-BLACK CRIME

"For somebody that talks a lot of trash, you’d think he would have a little thicker skin, but sometimes I’d say something to him and I could tell that I really hurt his feelings." - Rashad Evans, on UFC 114 opponent Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Jackson must have been distraught at being sent a Snuggie and the "Q-U-I-T-T-I-N" moniker. (UFC.com)

"It motivated me to train harder than I ever trained. When I fought Wanderlei [Silva], I trained really hard. After that fight, I thought, 'I didn't think I could train so hard.' For this one, I trained way harder." - Jackson, who started preparations for the fight at 251 pounds. It's unfortunate that the first half of your camp was spent getting you back into fighting shape. (MMA Torch)

"Quite honestly we had the worst Rampage eight weeks ago, and we're going to have the absolute best Rampage come fight night, which is amazing." - Jackson trainer Mike Dolce. Amazing.

"I can’t have my mind fogged up with stuff that he [Rampage] said about me. There’s gonna come a time in the fight where I may have to dig deep and use some of that fuel." - Evans. Can you say foreshadowing?

"I'm not focused on a crazy gameplan, gameplan's out the window...I trained to destroy." - Jackson. Sounds like Rashad had a huge advantage if he prepared a quality gameplan for Jackson.

"The gameplan was simple. Not to have a gameplan at all." - Evans. Oh boy. (Cage Writer)

"Do what I do well, know what he doesn't do well and stay out of position I'm not too good at." - Evans. Wait, that sounds oddly like a gameplan.

"I went out for a little bit." - Evans, who was badly rocked in the middle of round three.

"I was very surprised he recovered. I put all my eggs in that basket." - Jackson. All 251 pounds of your eggs.

"I guess ring rust is a factor. (The weight loss) was a lot of stress on me but I looked and felt good. It wasn't factor in the fight." - Jackson

WELL, AT LEAST YOU'VE GOT HOLLYWOOD

"I’m a fighter, but I tried to go into a whole new adventure and didn’t even know anything about tours and stuff in a movie. I had no idea I had to do this." - Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who stars as B.A. Baracus in the A-Team movie. I'm shocked "Rampage" dove into something without knowing all the details. Shocked. (Sherdog)

"I got to make a decision because it looks like it would be hard to do both if you’re gonna take time off and fight guys accountable here in the UFC…I’ve just got to think about which one I want to do." - Jackson

I DON'T WANT THE FIGHT, BUT I WANT THE FIGHT

"I can't fight hurt anymore. I can't fight injured and look for excuses." - Tito Ortiz, detailing why he opted for surgery instead of fighting Chuck Liddell at UFC 115. (MMA Torch)

"I was completely against [the fight with Tito Ortiz]. I told Dana (White) I don’t mind doing it if you think it’s going to be good for us or a good way for me to come back after some time off, but it made no sense for me to fight him." - Liddell, who joins every serious MMA fan in their hatred of a third Liddell-Ortiz bout. (MMA Weekly)

"I think because of the way it went down and what he did, I think if he wants to come back he should have to fight me." - Liddell. But, I thought...you didn't...want it...?

ARTICLE V OF THE UFC HALL OF FAME: HALL OF FAME WILL ONLY HOUSE ACTIVE FIGHTERS

"I just never thought about it, to be honest, so yeah, it came out of the blue." - Matt Hughes, who was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at the UFC 114 Fan Expo. (MMA Torch)

"I really thought a lot about it the first couple of days after Dana told me, and I really didn't know what to think about it. I've always been the type of guy who thought that somebody who gets inducted into the Hall of Fame needs to be a retired individual." - Hughes. Kind of like writing an autobiography before you've ended your career.

GEORGES ST-PIERRE TELLS EVERYONE TO EAT DOG DOO DOO

"I fight safe, and I'm not going to hide it." - UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre (MMA Junkie)

"I'm not going to give names, but if I would tell you names, you would know who's a brawler (and) who's not and who now has a problem with his career because he got hit too much. They can't take a punch anymore." - St-Pierre

"I don't fight like an idiot. That's what defines me." - St-Pierre, living the Camp Jackson credo.

"I'm (not the) champion because I'm the strongest guy in the division. It's not because I'm the fastest guy. I'm not the best grappler. I'm not the best striker. I'm not the best wrestler. But why I'm champion is because I fight smart every single fight." - St-Pierre. Actually, it is because you're the best wrestler.

WHITE NOISE

"I was like, 'Holy Shit!'" UFC President Dana White, detailing his reaction to Mike Russow's knock out over Todd Duffee. (Fanhouse)

"I'm not [Sanchez's] manager, but I think he should stay at [lightweight]." - White. Really? You're not his manager? Then maybe you should shut the fuck up about his career then, huh? (MMA Junkie)

"I don’t like golf. You know what I do? I don’t fucking watch it! What’s golf? A bunch of rich dicks walking around in stupid clothes and hitting a fucking ball. If we stopped that shit, we could build housing for people who can’t afford it on that land. And you have a problem with UFC? Come on, man." - White. Just like those rich dicks walking around in stupid clothes at the casino, dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars at the blackjack table. We could building housing for people who couldn't afford it with that money. (Weekly Seven)

"The real world is no one gives a shit, the real world is hard and you gotta get out there and you gotta overcome adversity to get where you wanna be." - White, on Dan Miller's personal situation leading up to his UFC 114 fight.Do you wanna be a fucking fighter? (MMA Fighting)

"We have no beef. It's -- he's not a team player. His personality -- you're never going get along with Koscheck and hang out and be good buddies with him." - White, on Josh Koscheck. Who would want to be a "team player" for a prick who says things like "in the real world, no one gives a shit"? (MMA Fighting)

"The A-Team is the big summer hit this year, and from what I'm hearing from the guys in Hollywood, Rampage [nailed] it. He did an awesome job." - White, changing his tune on Quinton Jackson's movie career. (Miami Herald)

PARTING SHOTS

"What Rashad said was real. Did Rampage comment on that? If it was false Rampage would've been like, `I'm not an Uncle Tom.'" - "King" Mo Lawal, addressing the Jackson/Evans "Uncle Tom" accusations. Isn't this the dude that dresses up with a crown, accompanied by a bevy of young women, and dances to the cage? (Cage Writer)

"Somebody mentioned a three-round war… it ain’t going to be a three-round war." - Michael Bisping, who fought a three round war with Dan Miller at UFC 114. (Fighters Only)

"I've made statements and stuff you know if you hate me, I hate you, I don't care, I don't care if you don't like me to be honest with you." - Tim Sylvia (Sherdog)

"Through my career, I’ve pushed for certain fights, and I don’t know if it’s Joe’s personality or what, but I think he’s not an Alan Belcher fan." - Alan Belcher. As a man of reason and taste, I think Joe Silva hates seeing that abortion of a Johnny Cash tattoo dancing around in his Octagon. (Sherdog)

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Any plans to come to the UFC?
Fedor: Not in the near future. First, I need to finish my contract with M-1 Global and Strikeforce (2 more fights to go). Then we'll see.

I'm amazed by how you combine religion and don't forget about God while being part of this hard sport.
Fedor: There is no need to combine anything in orthodoxy. This is the way of life. I try to live according to the Commandments, go to church and pray. If you are religious there is no other way than to do that. There is no such question: to combine or not to combine. You always feel what you need to do and what not in order to retain God in your heart. As for the so-called Warrior Path, I represent my country; defend its honor on the international stage just like others do. There is no controversy with the religion. I got blessing from Patriarch Kirill.

Did you fight a lot on the streets or to protect the ones you love?
Fedor: Thanks God, not. The last time I fought on the streets was way before the times of my military duty. There are not many altercations when I'm around.

Have you ever fought or beat up your brother?
Fedor: No, never. I'm older than him. Before army he was a small kid but upon my return he was 15-16 years old, so we already had a lot to talk about and consequently train together.

-- Full interview after the jump.

HT: efedor.ru (part 1 and part 2), translated by michaell on the UG and forum.mixfight.ru

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum coverage

HT: efedor.ru (part 1 and part 2), translated by michaell on the UG and forum.mixfight.ru

How's the preparation for the upcoming fight going? Vadim Finkelstein mentioned some training together with Dutch strikers that were expected to come to Stary Oskol...
Fedor: The training routine goes in accordance to my trainers' plan. The first stage is over and we've just begun the second one. Hard training as usual: a lot of wrestling, a lot of boxing. Probably in the near future some of these kick boxers will indeed come to Stary Oskol.

Has the filming crew already come over to Oskol in order to tape your preparation as it was before your previous fights?
Fedor: So far there is no one. Probably it was not in the plans this time.

Recently a Russian national TV channel (NTV) showed a program on you (in connection to a religious topic) where some inappropriate phrases were used like: "Who is this mister Emelianenko? A member of a sect? The one repenting his sins? Jesus Christ's warrior?"..."If he visits the church so eagerly why won't he leave this bloody sport?" etc... What is your opinion on that?
Fedor: It seems to me that people employed by NTV have no decency and are not afraid of God, they lack a clear conscience. Even before that they claimed to shoot a program for a modern-day youth. You know, nowadays young people lost their lifetime values, they don't know what they live for. The channel's representative stated that they'd like to use me as an empirical example (= role model) for the ones who drink, take drugs, are lost in debauchery and violence. Officially they asked me for help on this matter through the media channel. The questions they asked me during the interviews had nothing to do with what they broadcast later. They twisted all the facts. I appeared to be some part-time killer part-time member of a sect. Actually, no matter what country I fought in throughout my career, never has any media put presented me like a butcher.... When I was watching that TV episode, it was a revelation to me that I visit the church more often then I have training! I go to church on Saturday and on Sunday that's what I told them actually.
Moreover, in another episode on the same NTV channel I appear to accuse my own brother Alexander of being a skinhead...It's totally untrue. Alexander has sued them already for the damage of his image. I really can't understand why they twist the facts. Are they after the ratings, manufactured sensations? There is a clear lack of professionalism. After such incidents I lose any will to communicate with media...

Recently you took part in a Russian hand-to-hand combat among patriotic orthodox sports clubs in the city of Sergiev Posad.
Fedor: Yes and its great these clubs exist. They cultivate not only physical strength but mental, too. For an orthodox Christian doing Martial Arts it's essential to work on both aspects. It's not to confuse Martial Arts with violence. The essence of Orthodox religion is that we have never been the aggressors but defenders...

I'd like to know your relationship in the family. Are you the leader in your family?
We always discuss things with my wife, I listen to her of course and she listens to me. But I'm the one who makes decisions. I'm the man and I'm the head of our family. I'm responsible.

How powerful is your right hook?
Fedor: I never measured the strength.

Do you like hunting?
Fedor: I like to be there but not to kill animals. In my life I have not hunted that much.

I noticed you don't have many sponsors on your shorts or a T-shirt. Why is that?
Fedor: Russian sponsors are not very interested in me in one way or another. Sometimes foreign companies contact us though.

Hallo, I have a son and a daughter of 6 and 8 respectively. Could you give me advice on how to raise them in terms of sport and MA in particular.
Fedor: Of course, you need to cultivate love for sports in them. However, 6 and 8 is the golden age, so you better let them play actively, raise them through that. I'd strongly recommend you bring them to some serious sport later on (10 years or later). Their little bodies need to grow a bit first to prepare for harder training or a combat in particular.

Any thought on a potential rematch with Brett Rogers?
Fedor: Not really considering he lost his last fight.

Any plans to come to the UFC?
Fedor: Not in the near future. First, I need to finish my contract with M-1 Global and Strikeforce (2 more fights to go). Then we'll see.

Do you train during religious festivities?
Fedor: Well, during preparation for an upcoming fight I do.

What's your aim in life?
Fedor: To live and hail God.

What do you value the most in people? How come you manage to stay modest? Thank you! Thanks to you I quit smoking, stopped drinking alcohol, started doing sports and respect my family.
Fedor: So you see, that's my aim in life. Thanks God, there are people ready to change their lives, turn to the good. Back to your question: I value kindness and love towards others, ability to remain decent in any situation. I try to be the same person I want others to be.

When will the movie you starred in (Fifth Execution) will hit the cinema? It's getting late.
Fedor: As far as I know, it was shown to public in a limited mode at Cannes Film Festival. I believe the plan was to launch in autumn but I don't really know.

Any particular meal you like?
Fedor: Not really. I eat everything my wife gives me. The only thing I "cooked" myself lately was fried eggs and cottage cheese with sour cream (laughs).

Did you fight a lot on the streets or to protect the ones you love?
Fedor: Thanks God, not. The last time I fought on the streets was way before the times of my military duty. There are not many altercations when I'm around.

Do you enjoy watching action movies?
No, I don't. There is no truth in them at all. The same script everywhere: stack them with a lot of fireworks and special effects and forget about any normal scenario. I like movies with idea. I like watching 'The Brother' 1 and 2 (Russian movie: Brat). I have kids so my favorite foreign movies recently are 'Hatiko' and 'A Christmas Carol' with Jim Carey.

I'm sure lots of people try to confront you in public. How do you remain calm?
Fedor: I can imagine that at press-conferences some people want to generate more attention to them by various statements or even insults. I don't think it's good. Moreover, I always keep in mind I'm accountable for my action. That's why I try not to play these games.

Do you consider Fabricio Werdum to be a dangerous opponent?
Fedor: Of course. He's a cerebral and thinking fighter. His style is unorthodox and one of the more interesting.

Is it true that you run (jog) more than 10 km a day?
Fedor: On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I run 14.5 - 15 km in the morning. On Wednesdays and Saturdays I go to Russian banya (kind of sauna, check Wiki for details). Sunday is for relaxation. That concerns a fight preparation period. In the off-season the distance gets shorter.

I'm amazed by how you combine religion and don't forget about God while being part of this hard sport.
Fedor: There is no need to combine anything in orthodoxy. This is the way of life. I try to live according to the Commandments, go to church and pray. If you are religious there is no other way than to do that. There is no such question: to combine or not to combine. You always feel what you need to do and what not in order to retain God in your heart. As for the so-called Warrior Path, I represent my country; defend its honor on the international stage just like others do. There is no controversy with the religion. I got blessing from Patriarch Kirill.

Was Rogers really greased in your fight?
Fedor: I can’t confirm anything. But he felt different than others.

Have you ever fought or beat up your brother?
Fedor: No, never. I'm older than him. Before army he was a small kid but upon my return he was 15-16 years old, so we already had a lot to talk about and consequently train together.

When you were young who did you want to be like?
Fedor: You know, I always admired what several Russian historical persons did in the past (Alexander Nevskiy, Dmitry DOnskoy, Alexander Peresvet, Fedor Ushakov, Alexander Suvorov). I read a lot about them and watched historic movies. WHen I got introduced to the world of sport the role models for me were Yury Vlasov
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yury_Vlasov), Lev Yashin
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Yashin), Vladislav Trtiak
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladislav_Tretiak), Alexander Medved
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Medved)...

Fedor, your next fight will be against Fabricio Werdum. But will you fight Brock Lesnar or is only rumors? People say he challenged you and waits for your reaction...
Fedor: You know our own wishes are not really taken into considerations. UFC had an opportunity to close a deal with us, but they didn't use it. Until my contract with M-1 Global and Strikeforce expires, there is no talk of fighting elsewhere no matter how loud anyone talks about that.

Have you ever fought Kimbo Slice?
Fedor: No, never. We have never even met each other.

I'd really like to train with you. Is that possible?
Fedor: Lots of guys who come to train happen to ask me a lot for a photo together and it really distracts from the training itself. That's why in the period of preparations for an upcoming fight we don't hold any open trainings or seminars. After that you can find information on my website efedor.ru or official M-1 site mixfight.ru

Have you ever smoked in your life?
Fedor: No, I never event wanted or tried to.

What do you feel before the fight knowing that your opponents are no slouches?
Fedor: I'm no different than other people. I feel excited and nervous. But when I proceed to the ring I gather myself, concentrate and everything goes away.

In your fight against Mirko Crocop there was a moment in the first when the fight hit the ground and you got into a very lucrative position for a knee to the head. Why didn't you throw a knee then?
Fedor: My trainers and teammates asked me this very question, too. I can't name the reason why. I'm the one who makes decisions in the course of the fight and probably I didn't feel this strike was necessary and that's why I didn't capitalize on the position.

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M-1 has been working it’s ass off for the last year trying to prove that it’s a valuable co-promotional partner that brings all sorts of positive things to the table. That claim is going to take a serious hit as Affliction has just sued them this past Friday, basically calling bullshit on the idea that M-1 did anything real other than shelter Fedor’s money from taxes.

According to Affliction, the California-based promotion inked a “Fight Agreement” that tendered $300,000 to Emelianenko per bout he participated in, while Affliction was directed to pay the remaining $1.2 million of Emelianenko’s $1.5 million asking purse per bout directly to M-1 Global under the auspice of a “Consultation Agreement.”

“The reason for the two agreements, Affliction was told, was for personal tax implications,” reads the countersuit.

Affliction claims no consultation was ever agreed upon or given by the M-1 Global group for the two events.

“Because the consulting agreement was a sham contract designed to avoid tax obligations, M-1 had no obligations to perform pursuant to the consulting agreement and therefore rendered no performance under the consulting agreement,” alleges Affliction’s filings.

Affliction is asking the court to deem the consulting agreement unlawful and that M-1 Global refund the $2.4 million it initially collected for the two events, plus a 10 percent interest rate per year along with attorney’s fees.

Keep in mind though that this is part of Affliction’s counter-suit against M-1, who are trying to keep Affliction on the hook for that third Fedor fight that never happened. Affliction is liable to make things look as negative as possible, even if they just paid M-1 the money and told them to stay out of the way. For a less biased opinion on the situation, I’d say go ask Scott Coker what he thinks of M-1 as a promotional partner. But he’d just give you a nervous smile and talk about how great everything is even after they just fucked him (and themselves) over hardcore by skipping April’s CBS show.

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The general assumption everyone has had is that if the A-Team does well and Rampage becomes a star, you can kiss seeing him fight regularly goodbye. But there have been some comments lately that make it sound like Hollywood wasn’t all rainbows and lollypops for Quinton Jackson.

“I focused really hard and I trained really hard on this fight, but me having this damn movie and everything — I kind of almost regret doing the damn movie now,” said Jackson. “There was so much pressure. (20th Century) Fox kind of threatened to sue me if I lost and everything because they didn’t know I was fighting.”

Sounding already taxed by the ordeal, Jackson said he’d leave Las Vegas on Saturday night to begin the film’s press tour. The 31-year-old father of two also said he had other movie offers on the table, though he wasn’t sure he’d take any of them.

“I’m a fighter, but I tried to go into a whole new adventure and didn’t even know anything about tours and stuff in a movie. I had no idea I had to do this,” said Jackson. “I was just focusing on this fight and I wasn’t even worrying about (the other movie offers). I got to make a decision because it looks like it would be hard to do both if you’re gonna take time off and fight guys accountable here in the UFC…I’ve just got to think about which one I want to do.”

Here’s more negative comments from that LA Times article I mentioned earlier today, where Rampage called acting ‘kinda gay’:

“Here, there’s a thing called ‘pecking order,’ ” Jackson said. “I’m not used to that. People can be really inconsiderate of people’s feelings. I wasted three weekends in a row waiting in my trailer when they didn’t use me at all. To be honest, my experience in this movie industry hasn’t always been good.”

“If you know one thing about me, I say time is the most valuable thing in this universe. I hate wasting time. And these [individuals] wasted a lot of my…time!”

The day’s battle royal, it turns out, had been about settling old scores with the ADs.

“I’ve been wanting to punch them for real for a while. I wanted to whup their [behinds],” he said. “Even though I was playing with them, I was going to do what I wanted to do. I smacked ‘em a little bit on the ground.”

Jackson paused before clarifying his position: “I didn’t want to hurt the [individuals] but there was built-up aggression.”

Blame it on the emotional release of a long shoot finally coming to an end, blame it on fatigue.

Jackson gave voice to second thoughts about choosing “The A-Team” over UFC 107. “Overall, I was glad I experienced the stuff. But sometimes I have mixed feelings. Sometimes I think, ‘Damn, I should have taken that fight,’” he said.

Of course, Rampage is like a giant child (which is also mentioned in that LA Times article) and you get the feeling that he’d have negative opinions on going to Disneyworld if he had to wake up too early or put any proper effort into getting there. Regardless of the bitching, only one thing is for sure: The guy is gonna go where the money is.

Fortunately, Dana White still claims Rampage is going to make way more money fighting for the UFC than going Hollywood, and barring a sudden influx of leading roles, I believe him. No one knows exactly how much Rampage makes off his PPV percentage, but at a modest $2 per show (here’s how Randy Couture’s old deal is structured for reference) he makes over 1.7 million on this fight alone assuming it pulls the pre-estimated 850k buys. If Rampage actually managed to fight a few times a year … yeah, those are numbers I’m sure even he can understand.

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Like many wrestlers who begin acquiring standup skills and have success in the striking department, Rashad Evans found himself more and more comfortable on his feet.

But in his two most recent appearances - unanimous-decision wins against Thiago Silva in January and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson this past weekend at UFC 114 - the former Michigan State wrestler returned to his roots.

And for those who complain that it's a lay-and-pray style light on entertainment value, Evans has a message for you: Get used to it.

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Rami from Fightmetric shares Todd Duffee’s newest statistical accomplishment:

In his first UFC fight, Duffee grabbed the record for fastest finish. In his second UFC fight, Duffee acquires a more ignominious record: Greatest striking differential in a loss by stoppage.

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Robert Joyner (the guy who used to run MMA Payout and a sharp knife in the spoon drawer of MMA blogging) points out that even though Bellator is putting on some great shows, it’s still got some question marks as far as long term viability goes:

Numbers coming out from the Massachusetts Athletic Commission after their Boston show pegged the audience at just over 1,000 paid. Their debut in Kansas City hit somewhere in the 2000-2500 range. While there are other revenue streams like the UB and Everlast sponsorships and International TV packages, the low gates are a troubling sign for the traction that Bellator are looking to get on its path towards financial viability. The gate numbers are a good quantifier of how well the Bellator product is getting over with the average MMA fan. While Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney touts the numbers they are doing on NBC and FSN, the all important metric of putting an ass in a seat every 18 inches seems to be an indicator that shows the company is lacking.

The attendance numbers are one of a few troubling items for Bellator that give me pause when looking at their long term prospects for success. Their TV revenues are negligible…the IFL made $40-50K per show on FSN and I can’t see Bellator making more than that. They have the NBC late night slot, which was a time buy when Strikeforce had it. If they are hustling selling ads, they may be making a small profit there. They also have deals with Univision and Mun2, but I have to question if those are time buys as well. The biggest problem they are facing is the high cost of TV they are looking at that will make profitability anytime soon a long shot. FSN most assuredly isn’t covering the cost of production, they didn’t with IFL (the IFL was smart in cutting a deal with HDNet for live coverage, with HDNet covering costs, so the IFL could then shop the taped stuff to FSN.) Bellator is having to cover satellite time, production trucks, logistics etc. on a week to week basis is something that will bury them in the long run if they aren’t able to find a better TV package.

One can only hope that the company has the pockets to stick through the tough times until they have enough positive TV numbers to get a deal that doesn’t suck financially. If they’re burning through cash at the moment, they’re keeping the fact close to their chest. Even MMA fans (who have a vulture-like ability to tell when promotions are weak) haven’t really started hounding them yet.

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After a solid but unsuccessful lightweight tournament loss to UFC veteran Roger Huerta, Chad Hinton gets a second shot at a first Bellator win when he meets Daniel Straus next month at Bellator 23.

The two Cincinnati-based fighters have been booked for the preliminary card of the June 24 show.

MMAjunkie.com editor-in-chief Dann Stupp reported the bout in today's "MMA Insider" column for the Dayton Daily News.

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The LA Times has a less than complimentary profile on Quinton Jackson, focusing on several homophobic comments and reactions along with the whole Rampage rampage.

Talk about a Bad Attitude.

As early December darkness fell on the Vancouver set of Fox’s $100-million movie reboot of “The A-Team,” one of its stars, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, found himself fending off an all-too-familiar impulse. The urge to, well, rampage.

At issue: a movie crew member had wandered in on this final day of principal photography and — whether jokingly or not — called the muscle-bound movie star a homophobic epithet. Jackson had responded with barely contained fury. He threw the guy out, shouting him down with every conceivable gay slur. “You’re a punk!” Jackson finally bellowed.

He claimed the crew member’s intent had been to provoke a physical assault. “That … wanted me to punch him so he could sue me,” the professional body-slammer explained, using a certain 12-letter curse word that he lets fly often in conversation — a word that has no business appearing in a family newspaper and, for the sake of this article, will from here on out be substituted with “individual.”

The article earned Jackson a pissy post from gay blog Queerty, one of the few sites that had a problem with Rampage’s inability to say more than three jokes in a row without including some variant of homophobia. They called him a ‘Faggot-spewing fake Mr T.’

Another interesting ‘mainstream’ article that’s come out of the fight: Huffington Post’s “Black Power comes to the Ultimate Fighting Championship”, which is a writeup that breaks the event down on racial lines and makes me wonder “Are Brazilians really Latinos?”

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