Teixeira, you may remember, is the dangerous rising Light Heavyweight who was offered to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as a replacement for Thiago Silva. Rua infamously declined the fight by telling Dana White that he would rather quit the UFC than fight Teixeira.

The difficulty in booking Teixeira is that he has a reputation as a killer, but is entering a UFC Light Heavyweight division filled with skilled veterans who are not keen on the idea of fighting a young, dangerous fighter with no name recognition. If you beat him, you get a victory over a tough fighter very few people have heard of; lose and you lose to somebody who could be a star down the line but right now is a nobody.

Enter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Jackson has been trying for the last six months to talk his way out of his UFC contract, airing his grievances despite the fact that it’s the same company that somehow managed to protect him and keep him from becoming a social pariah after an extended manic episode a couple years back that concluded with a vehicular rampage (no pun intended).

For his ingratitude, Joe Silva went all heel WWE General Manager on him and is making him fight Teixeira. If Jackson has or had any objections, he hasn’t let them be known. However, Dave Meltzer recently stated that Jackson literally isn’t following the sport at all and likely doesn’t even know who Teixeira is or why he should have any reservations about the fight, so take that for what you will.

Teixeira holds a record of 18-2 with 16 wins coming by knockout or submission. His current win streak goes all the way back to March of 2005, but has yet to face a Top 10 fighter in his career. Jackson is coming off back to back losses to Jon Jones and Ryan Bader, and likely has already mentally checked out of the fight game.

Part of me is wondering if Jackson will even bother showing up for this fight. I say that figuratively, but I wouldn’t exactly fall out of my chair if that literally went down either.

Sure, Shields and Akiyama was a disappointing affair, mostly due to Jake’s stubborn refusal to work on his boxing (and that’s coming from a guy who’s actually one of his frequent defenders), but the rest of the card was top to bottom excitement and intrigue. Even Bader’s dismantling of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was interesting, even if it was for all the wrong reasons, chief among them the fact that the Japanese fans were booing Rampage by the third round. For those of us that have some working knowledge of the history of MMA in Japan and the behavior and tone of Japanese fans at live fights, that was a surreal moment.

Most of the post-fight talk, though, focused on the five round decision that made former WEC champion and standout Benson Henderson the new UFC Lightweight Champion.

After the fight a lot of fighters and pundits took to twitter to say they thought Edgar had won the fight. They had an ally in UFC President Dana White, who said as much during his post-event interview with Ariel Helwani.

But did he? I’m not so sure.

I went into the fight legitimately torn because I genuinely like and admire both fighters. But I found myself cheering for Edgar as soon as they came nose to nose and the size discrepancy between the two fully sunk in. Henderson, even with a very strict diet and training regiment to ensure a proper weight cut that doesn’t sacrifice endurance, is on the (much) larger end of 155 and wouldn’t look out of place at Welterweight (he would, in fact, be as big or bigger than all but the most freakishly large Thiago Alves types). Edgar, on the other hand, is like BJ Penn at 170, in that he’s fighting a full weight class above where he probably should be, and word has it he cuts little to no weight and could easily make Featherweight if he chose to.

This made sitting and watching objectively to be an exercise in will and determination. How could I not watch what Edgar was doing to survive the onslaught of a much, much larger opponent, particularly since I’ve expressed in this space before how underappreciated he is? Edgar was, as he has been for some time now, exemplary of all things that make MMA truly great: courageous, masterful, and technically marvelous.  That he kept his cool and fought for three rounds with a closed eye and a broken nose from a spot-on upkick from Henderson made his performance all the more memorable and admirable.

Unfortunately, I felt he was still (narrowly) outstruck by Henderson in all but two rounds. At the end of the fight, I had it scored for Henderson by a score of 48-47. Two of the three judges agreed with me, with the third giving it 49-46 for Henderson. An incorrect judgement in my opinion, but not an absurd one given what we saw from both men. Fight Metric, a valuable if still flawed resource (through no fault of their own since it’s impossible to compute intangibles like aggression and Octagon control), broke it down along the same lines as that lone judge.

It wasn’t a robbery, and I’m glad to see that nobody’s claiming as such. I don’t even know if it was close enough, on paper, to warrant an immediate rematch. I do however think that it’s only fair that the UFC take the size discrepancy and heart Edgar showed into account when considering who Henderson’s next opponent should be. Everyone’s eager to see Henderson try to avenge his WEC Lightweight Championship loss to Anthony Pettis based solely on the famous “Showtime” kick moment from the final round of that fight. Yet I’m hesitant to say that Pettis deserves it over any other contender in the bottlenecked division. The head kick knockout of Joe Lauzon earlier in the evening was impressive, but injuries and circumstances have kept Lauzon in the very bottom rung of the top ten. That makes Pettis’s last three fights a knockout win over a perennial gatekeeper, a very close split decision win over Jeremy Stephens, and a decisive loss to Clay Guida. If we’re going to look at it objectively, that’s not a contender’s resume.

Time and fan reaction will tell if we see Henderson/Edgar II or Henderson/Pettis II. Both sentimentally and objectively, I’m pulling for the former, but I wouldn’t be terribly disappointed if we get the latter instead.

OTHER UFC 144 REACTIONS:

• As mentioned before, that head kick KO from Anthony Pettis was mighty impressive. But did it show old form or simply solidify what I and many others have felt, which is that while showing flashes of brilliance he’s still an uneven fighter?
• Ben Fowlkes said Quinton Jackson “didn’t look awful” in his bout at UFC 144, but I have to respectfully disagree. I went so far as to joke that it was really inspiring to see James Toney take a fight against Ryan Bader on suchshort notice. Obviously an exaggeration for comedic effect, but Jackson physically didn’t look good and didn’t fare much better between the bell, either. Injuries happen, but this is the first time in his career Jackson’s ever come in over weight (he weighed in at 211 and had to forfeit twenty percent of his purse to Bader).
• Akiyama lost again, and there was talk after the show of reevaluating his position and future with the company. But I was actually encouraged by seeing him hold his own (even if it wasn’t the most exciting affair) against a guy I still consider to be the #4 welterweight in the world. I think he did enough against a high level of competition to warrant another chance to prove himself at Welterweight.
• What’s the bigger comeback: Tim Boetsch‘s third round knockout after two rounds of being dominated in every manner possible by Yushin Okami, or Mark Hunt‘s improbable career resurgence that came only because he was literally owed fights by Zuffa after their purchase of Pride? Okay, it’s obviously Hunt, but Boetsch’s sure was fun to watch. I mean, those uppercuts! Wow.

Jackson and Evans go at it verbally (Josh Hedges, UFC)

While both are adept at promoting a fight through soundbytes and trash talking, the pre-fight hype reached a sensitive area when Evans called Jackson out on various comments and behaviors that he felt reflected badly on his race and played into negative black stereotypes. Taking umbrage with Jackson’s repeated promise of “black on black crime” as well as other comments made in relation to the fight, Evans finally called Jackson out on what he perceived to be racist behavior during a media call last week.

Jackson responded to a reporter’s question by joking that he didn’t understand the words “detrimental” and “advantageous,” after which another reporter asked Evans what it was about Jackson that made him so upset and lose his composure so quickly.

“You [Jackson] say ignorant stuff, and you perpetuate stupidness” Evans said in response to the question . “You’re not stupid. Stop acting like you’re stupid. Stop acting like because you’re black you’re stupid.”

Jackson was so taken aback by the comment that he went completely silent, which is pretty telling considering the fact that anytime Evans took a breath during the rest of the call, Jackson would immediately interrupt with rants and insults. The silence hung heavy in the air for a good five to ten seconds, with a reporter finally breaking it by thanking Evans for his answer.

Evans, not wanting to let Jackson off the hook, continued with his assessment.

“I’ve talked to this dude. This dude is pretty smart, he knows what’s going on. But he just does a…’oh, it’s comedy.’ But why perpetuate that stereotype that you’re stupid? Why perpetuate that stereotype that you can’t read?”

An uncharacteristically nervous Jackson, having had several minutes to digest the accusation, half-heartedly said “I didn’t say that, I never said that” in a voice that cracked in an apt representation of the shattering of the veneer that gave him comfort and confidence. He then jumped back into Rampage mode, his voice changing in tone and cadence.  He tried to steer the conversation back to their respective fight records and, that route failing, started tossing homophobic slurs towards Evans.

Some may have heard the exchange and interpreted Jackson’s silence and wild deflection as him being too “in character” to have a serious conversation or defend himself. Others see his silence as not so much a moment of confusion as one of shock that Evans had, accurately, called him out on his act. Regardless, it raises not just questions of where Jackson falls in terms of his behavior but also how it might be affecting an entire segment of the population that has thus far eluded the UFC’s most ardent promotional efforts.

A recent post over at MMA Fighting by Ben Fowlkes (one of the better writers you’ll find out there covering the sport; I’ll be posting snippets for the sake of discussion but I urge you to read it in full) discusses the historic first ever UFC pay-per-view to be headlined by two black competitors, and in it Fowlkes also points to some of the more racially charged interactions between Evans and Jackson. N

For a sport with so much international appeal, and one that pits Japanese, Brazilian, British, Canadian, French, and American fighters against each other, often all on the same card, MMA has still struggled somewhat with the African-American demographic.

That’s all the more reason why the “Rampage” Jackson-Rashad Evans fight is a delicate matter for the UFC and its fans. The clip of Jackson promising “black-on-black crime” after Evans confronted him following UFC 96, for instance, is a prime example of how the pre-fight hype can send the wrong message in this case.

Fowlkes then asks if it’s fair to label Jackson’s behavior and statements as black stereotype:

At the same time, even if you take for granted that Jackson is playing a character to some extent when the camera comes on, since when is a fighter responsible for representing his entire race while hyping a fight?

No one criticizes Brock Lesnar for playing to negative stereotypes of white midwestern farm boys with his ornery attitude, or B.J. Penn for evoking an image of a blood-licking Polynesian savage with his post-fight celebrations.

There’s an inherent unfairness to designating someone as the appointed representative for an entire group of people, especially if he never asked to carry that burden. If every other fighter speaks only for himself, why should Jackson be any different?

Then again, some things are different just because they’re different. It doesn’t have to be fair to be the reality of the situation.

Another interesting personality in the sport, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion “King” Mo Lawal, is quoted in the piece.

But it’s not just Evans, who has every reason to be ungenerous to Jackson after all the animosity that’s brewed between them. In a recent conversation with “King” Mo Lawal he repeatedly singled Jackson out for playing to the prejudices of white MMA fans, saying, “All that ‘black-on-black crime’ stuff, acting like a dog, who do you think that’s for? It’s not for [African-American fans], and you know it.”

Lawal also notes that much of the hate mail he receives is racially motivated, and that he (along with Evans) believe that much of the negative reaction they receive – both at live events and on the internet – is mostly racially motivated.

As far as the reactions of the live crowds are concerned, I disagree with the assessment that they get booed because of race. Lawal gets booed because of the persona he’s crafted, which is a bit too showy and cartoony for most American sports fans (unlike in Japan where that sort of thing is encouraged). Evans garners boos for doing stuff during a fight like smiling, licking his hand and rubbing his crotch after an exchange. Jackson gets a mixed reaction for a multitude of reasons having to do with his statements and actions outside of the Octagon.

As for an inherent unfairness, I think Ben’s partially right. There always seems to be pressure exerted on black athletes to be representatives of their race whenever one of them gets into some legal or ethical trouble. The NFL is a prime example. When Pacman Jones, a cornerback, was with a party of individuals of questionable merit and one of them shot someone, he was decried as being a poor example and role model for children and all but declared persona non grata by the sports media. However, when Ben Roethlisberger was accused of sexual misconduct and a litany of other poor behavioral choices that may or may not have resulted in a criminal indictment, it was played up in the media as an isolated incident that reflected poorly on Ben as a person and nothing else.

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal has a flamboyant and carefully crafted persona when the ameras are on, but none of it could be called a stereotype. Still, he feels race plays a big part in how fans react to him. (Daniel Herbertson, Sherdog.com)

When black athletes behave badly, there’s more of a talk of it as a pandemic pattern rather than a personal transgression. In other words, with Ben the reaction carried a tone of animosity towards “him” whereas with Jones it carried an attitude of animosity towards “they,” with the “they” vaguely being alluded to as athletes but specifically conjuring the image of black athletes in American sports.

In the case of Quinton Jackson, I think there’s definitely a point to be made. It’s accurate to say that Jackson plays dumb for laughs at the expense of himself and his sport, though it’s tough to say if it can really be said to be at the expense of his race. I do think the barking, chains, and other aspects of his persona definitely pertain to a more questionable element, with specific statements such as “black on black crime” and “why you gotta use those big words” most definitely playing to a more racially-charged element.

One thing that needs to be pointed out is that Jackson crafted the “Rampage” gimmick and persona in Japan, where promoters unashamedly play up to negative racial stereotypes. “Rampage” blossomed in the country at the same time that the sport’s top star in the country, Bob Sapp, was appearing on billboards locked in a cage and eating bananas. His popularity in the country as part of the Pride promotion bled over to the States, and was segued into his popularity stateside. For someone who knew stardom in a wildly different culture with far different cultural mores and racial sensitivities (or lack thereof), the transition to celebrity status stateside can be a rough one. Particularly when so many of the more disturbing racial elements are the very things that made him a star and got him a big money contract with WEC (and eventually the UFC through their acquisition of the promotion).

Evans isn’t just blowing air when he expresses disdain for how Jackson acts in relation to black stereotypes. Like Fowlkes said, it points to the fact that Mixed Martial Arts has yet to gain a strong foothold among black sports fans, who are still by and large loyal to boxing when it comes to combat sports. Personally, I think the reasons are many but fairly evident: it’s a relatively young sport with gyms only now starting to appear in inner-city settings, most successful American competitors come from a wrestling background which has a stronger foothold in predominantly white areas, and it’s a sport that still isn’t in many States with a sizable black population (with the most glaring example being New York).

This may explain why Evans is so sensitive to the subject, to the point of appearing reactionary to those who might not grasp the full scope of the race conundrum. He wants to see the sport’s black audience grow, and as such doesn’t want anyone coming away from it with the impression that its participants or fans carry with them a racial bias that excludes participation or appreciation of the sport.

I can’t say I completely agree one hundred percent with the statements Evans and Lawal have made regarding Jackson playing up to negative black stereotypes, but I do understand where they’re coming from. It might appear to many as “playing the race card,” but it’s also addressing a very real racial chasm amongst the sport’s fanbase. After all, it wasn’t long ago that big-time promoter Bob Arum, despite apparently pulling a 180 on the sport, once referred to its fanbase as white skinheads. While the implication that all MMA fans are racist is ridiculous and improper from a major boxing promoter, the observation that its audience is far less diverse than that of boxing and other sports is far from inaccurate.

For fifteen minutes on Saturday night, however, none of this will matter. Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson, both former champions of their sport, will eye each other across the canvas. They’ll bob in place in anticipation of the call of the bell, waiting for the referee to signal the end of all the waiting and all the talking. Once that fight is over, another begins: to capture (or perhaps retain) the interest of an audience that has thus far not turned on to the sport for lack of exposure and seeing enough of their own on the main stage.