"Rampage" Quinton Jackson may not have gotten the KO win he wanted, but he showed all around improvement in his game at UFC 130. (Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
UFC 130 received mixed reviews from the fans. A card with ten fights and seven decisions and no super hyped match-ups, Rampage vs. Hamill showed what happens when an organization puts all their eggs in one basket. The fights were, as a whole, excellent, but the UFC had the fans salivating over the conclusion of “The Answer” Frankie Edgar (13-1-1) and “The Bully” Gray Maynard’s (10-0-1) New Year’s title fight. Once that bout was scrapped due to injuries to both men, the UFC needed a card that was stuffed with “Fight of the Year” candidates to make up for the disappointment, especially among the casual fans. UFC 130 may be getting an unfair bad wrap from many fans and media for not living up to the hype of its cancelled previous incarnation, but the beauty of MMA is that the lackluster reception of the card itself doesn’t reflect too heavily on the fighters involved with it. Some fighters, however, managed to squander that blessing by putting on poor performances that are only magnified by the poor light in which UFC 130 has been cast. To explore who came out ahead and who fell behind, MMA Gospel has The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Continue reading »
