If it wasn’t already known how much Quinton (Rampage) Jackson and (Suga) Rashad Evans dislike each other, it became abundantly clear on Tuesday during a pre-UFC 114 conference call.
Less than two weeks before their scheduled headlining bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the two former light-heavyweight champions bickered like rivals on a schoolyard, exchanging shot after a shot without even pausing to let the other respond.
Jackson called Evans “fake” on a couple of occasions, taking offence to the way he dances in the ring after knocking out an opponent, or tweaking his nipples when entering the ring — a practice by fighters in his camp supposedly meant for good luck.
But the name-calling went even further.
“Why you act all cocky and act all fake and be playing with your nipples and look all gay so why do you that?” Jackson asked. “Why do you portray the stereotype of a black gay man …
Evans replied: “I’m going to put my big balls right in your face.”
Meanwhile, Evans criticized Jackson putting on a false persona of being stupid because he’s black.
“He does his little Sambo thing and (talks about) black-on-black crime (and says) ‘I’m stupid you can’t use big words like that,'” Evans said, referring to Jackson’s response to an earlier question. “I talked to this dude. This dude is pretty smart you know what I’m saying. “
“Why perpetuate the stereotype that you’re stupid?” Evans asked rhetorically.
The verbal jarring was an extension of the face-to-face confrontations as coaches of Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. And with nobody there to physically get in either’s way it continued, seemingly without an end in sight.
Asked what made Jackson so angry about Evans, he said: “I just don’t like the way he talk to me.
“He’s just real fake, and real cocky you know what I’m saying. For someone who really — he ain’t really done much in this sport.”
“Hey, I was the world champion, bro, the world champion and I got that belt,” Evans interjected.
“That belt, where your belt at?” Jackson retorted.
“From somebody that beat you,” Evans quipped.
“Where’s your belt?” Jackson asked again.
“I got the belt from somebody that beat you,” Evans said again, referring to Forrest Griffin, who defeated Jackson for the title at UFC 86 in July 2008, but lost to Evans five months later at UFC 92. Evans then dropped his first title defence against Lyoto (The Dragon) Machida at UFC 98 another five months after that.
After a third posing of the question and similar answer, Jackson claimed: “Forrest didn’t me, I beat myself.”
And then he changed courses: “Your fight with Machida was horrible. You couldn’t defend your title. You didn’t even punch him.”
“Where’s your belt?” Evans shot back.
“I got three of them homey,” Jackson said. “I got them.”
“Shut the hell up you don’t got a belt,” Evans insisted.
The two eventually agreed that neither currently holds a world championship, but that’s about the only thing they came together on during the back-and-forth that took the better part of an hour.
“Hey, you don’t got nothing either,” Evans said. “So I guess we the same ain’t we?”
“No, we ain’t,” argued Jackson. “Nowhere near the same. Nowhere near the same.
“I know I’m better than you. I’m better than you, I’m sorry,” Evans said.
“Man, hey, I’m glad you think that. You can’t do nothing better than me boy,” Jackson replied.
“We’ll, see,” Evans said. “Everything we saying right now the best thing about it we get to see in two weeks and I want you to show up and I want you to be your best.”
“That’s what I’m looking forward to it. I am going to be my best,” Jackson insisted.
“Please do, please do, please do,” Evans begged.
The two were supposed to meet following the running of the reality show in Jackson’s home town of Memphis last Dec. 12. But Jackson had signed on to play B.A. Baracus in the upcoming movie remake of “The A-Team,” so he was unable to prepare. Now that filming is complete, the bad blood will finally be settled.
UFC president Dana White, who said the two fighters’ aversions to each other is not just for show, confirmed that the winner of their May 29 bout will get a shot at the title, currently held by Mauricio (Shogun) Rua. But neither is thinking about that.
“These two have eclipsed any grudge match we’ve ever had,” White said. “I don’t think anybody can say that these guys are putting on an act even though Rampage is now an actor.”
Jackson said his motivation for the bout came squarely from what went on during the filming of the reality show.
“I feel like fighting this guy is kind of like a step backwards. He couldn’t even hold on to the belt after one fight. So it’s like you know why am I even fighting this guy you?
“Then after I did the Ultimate Fighter now I know why I’m fighting this guy. Because I want to teach guys like this a lesson to keep his mouth shut when you ain’t on the same level as the next man you know.”
“That’s the motivation for this fight,” Jackson added. “It would feel like a moral victory.”
