UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill Conference Call Highlights

Former Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and rising contender Matt "The Hammer" Hamill will headline the stacked UFC 130 fight card, set to take place May 28th from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The co-main event will feature a Heavyweight showdown between Frank Mir and Roy "Big Country" Nelson, while Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve will look to take another step towards title contention as he goes head to head with Travis Browne.



Below are highlights from today's Media Conference Call, which included headliners Quinton Jackson and Matt Hamill, as well as Frank Mir and Roy Nelson.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

• I'm actually doing great. I'm lighter at this point for my fight then I have been in a long time.  I've been working with Lance Gibson and Julia Bud and I'm stronger than usual.  

• I train for fights. The training part is the toughest part of the regimen.  It doesn't matter who is in my camp, I've still got a job to do.

• (Fighting for the title) is the last thing on my mind.

• I'm always surprised when the judges give me a decision - after the Forrest Griffin fight anyways.  That's one reason for my reaction.  But, I watched the fight (vs. Machida) since, and I think I did enough to win.

• I know the real Michael Bisping.  He's a funny guy and really cares for his fans.  I think everybody started hating on him after he did TUF against Dan Henderson.  People don't realize its a reality show and it can get boring.  So he spiced things up and made it exciting.  They can edit you anyway they want on that show.  I don't remember people booing him before that.

• I'm a fighter and I've been fighting for a long time.  I have common sense.  There is no way I could have taken that fight (vs. Mauricio Rua) on short notice.  It's no secret that I put on weight in between fights.  I wouldn't have been able to make weight so it would have been stupid of me to even take it.  I don't regret it at all.

• That's a big misconception.  Some MMA fans, they don't understand.  If you really get to know me, I'm not really excited about anybody I fight.  Its my job to me.  My career.  I don't get excited anymore, I've got almost 40 fights.  And yes, I want to do movies after I get done fighting.  You can't fight until you're 60.  You need an exit strategy.  You can tell which fans are smart and which fans are ignorant.  What they think don't bother me at all.

• I like to be an exciting fighter, that's what I want to be remembered for the most is being one of the most exciting fighters.  But, if I get the belt, then that's good too.  You want to be the best.

• I worked on my wrestling a lot for this fight.  The thing about me, I work on my wrestling a lot.  I work on the same things every camp, but when I get in the fight it just depends on what I feel like doing and how I feel like fighting.  But, I worked on my wrestling a lot for this fight because I really respect Hamill's wrestling.

• I can't recall if its the deepest its ever been, but I can tell you its a pretty good roster for 205.  Its a really tough weight class I would say.

• My main motivation is to win, but I think Matt made a mistake when he actually said that he's going to break my will and that I'm going to overlook him.  That actually lit a fire up under my ass and made me train harder just so that I can break his will.  So I can make sure I outclass him.  That's why I worked a lot on my wrestling, extra on my cardio, and extra on getting up off of my back just in case he does take me down. Honestly, in the beginning, I wasn't 100% motivated until he said that.

• I've felt that way since the day I started fighting, I don't want to fight past 35.  I said it years ago, I don't know why people are just now catching on to it.

• I know I am older and stuff now and I've had a lot of wars.  I've got little bumps and bruises that bother me during training.  Now, I really like boxing more, I like trying to knock people out.  I started off as a wrestler, but then I fell in love with trying to knock people out.  My style has just changed over the years.

• My manager was complementing on my last spar last night and my trainer this morning said I look way better than I did for my Machida camp and they said I was in really great shape for the Machida fight.  So I've improved a lot since then.

Matt "The Hammer" Hamill

• Beating Tito definitely put me in line to get bigger fights and I knew I was ready for the next level, so I'm just glad I'm there.

• I don't blame Rampage for thinking that way.  Rampage should be thinking about fighting the top five guys in the world.  But I feel like I can beat him and I just want to think him for giving me the opportunity.

• I just see Rampage as a big name.  He's somebody who I think can bring me to the next level.

• (Hamill's Manager):  I personally, as the guy that campaigned for the fight, we just look at Rampage stylistically.  Not to knock on Rampage, he's my favorite fighter to watch because he's so exciting and he's got amazing power in both hands and hand speed like a Welterweight.  But, that being said, Rampage gets by on being the bigger stronger guy in the octagon a lot of times and this time he's just not going to be.  He's going to be out-wrestled and he's going to be taken down.  There's just no way around it.

• I thought Rampage wouldn't take the fight because I'm not one of the top guys in the division as far as the rankings go.  I figured that he'd be eying Rashad Evans or a rematch with Forrest Griffin etc.  So I just thought that Rampage would think that I am not in his league, but this is my chance to prove that I am in his league.

• My whole training camp I've been training to avoid Rampage's hands, he's got great power in both hands.  Even though I do have a great chin, I can be knocked out.  So my number one goal is to avoid that.

• I don't think about it like that.  Every time I fight I take it one fight at a time.  But, with this fight I feel like I am in the semifinals of a wrestling bracket and I've never lost in the semifinals of a wrestling bracket.

Frank Mir

• I just think I'd match up well with Dos Santos.  He's a very good boxer and he's got excellent hands .  I just think sometimes he falls into the pattern of boxing and not utilizing his wrestling and jiu-jitsu and all the other skills.

• I think (Lesnar vs Dos Santos) was kind of even.  It would have depended on how Brock recovered from the Cain Velasquez fight.  If he decided that he didn't want to be a striker and decided he just wanted to come in and take Dos Santos down, I thought that Dos Santos could have a hard time with him on the ground.

• Roy is a tough guy and I haven't really looked beyond it.  I think anyone that looks past him ends up having a rough night.

• At first I kind of struggle with (fighting a friend) a little bit mentally.  But, I'm sure Roy, honestly, hits more people in training than he does in fights.  All the people I train with I have dinner with and play videos game with afterwards.  So these are my friends and I hit them a lot harder and often in practice than I do my opponents.

• I always like fighting in Las Vegas, just because its where I was born and raised.  It makes it easier with the kids and stuff to just drive down to the arena instead of loading everyone in a plane.

• Some of the guys in the UFC are really tough, not every day is your best day.  Obviously we are always trying to become a better martial artist and a fighter, but at the end of the day there is somebody else in the cage who is trying to do everything the opposite from what I want to happen.  So maybe if the other guy started cooperating more I would look better (laughs).

• The (grappling) match happened and it stands for something at that time, that Roy was better than I was at jiu-jitsu and grappling.  I don't think I'd use it to much as a measure anymore just because I know that he's a different fighter and I've also improved.  And now there's also punches.  It could have been worse for me in that match if he was allowed to punch me, he was on top of me quite a bit.

• Obviously, I listen to the criticism because I know that if I am not selling fights that is going to affect match-ups and pay days for me in the future.  At the same time though, I am always balancing it because no matter how excitingly I lose a fight, winning is still paramount.  Obviously, if I can win excitingly and I see the opportunity to make the fight exciting, I'll take it, but not at the cost of losing the fight.

Roy "Big Country" Nelson

• You've always got to be scared of Frank. He's a true mixed martial artist. He knocked out Mirko, and he's bigger and stronger than JDS.

• Its one of those things, we get paid to win.  Usually you put your family before your friends and I think that is what it comes down to - putting a roof over your family's head.

• After I had my knee surgery, I think a week later I was supposed to fight Shane Carwin.  The only thing different about this camp is that its been like a 10 month camp versus a normal 6 weeks.  Its been like groundhog day for the last 10 months - just training and training and training.

• I'm hoping (my knee) will do whatever I want it to do, but I think it should be fine just like any other fight.

• I would have to agree (with Mir), that match was about 8 or 9 years ago.  We're doing MMA now and I'm a bigger, fatter guy now.

• Renzo and the whole Gracie family has influenced the entire UFC through jiu-jitsu.  Anybody that does any type of grappling, Renzo and his family has definitely influenced in some type of way, shape, or form.  So for me to say that I have a black-belt from a Gracie, especially from Renzo, who is like a living legend in our sport, I don't mind aligning myself with him.

Photo: Quinton 'Rampage" Jackson celebrates his victory over Keith Jardine during UFC 96 at the Nationwide Arena on March 7, 2009 in Columbus, OH. Francis Specker