I’m here in Las Vegas getting set for UFC 114 on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, a fight card that’ll be headlined by what could be the fight of the year.  The bad blood and animosity between Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson is legendary at this point, and that bad blood could very well translate into a great fight between two former Light Heavyweight Champions.  Follow on Twitter throughout for 114 updates from Vegas.

Here’s the audio roll for UFC 114 from Las Vegas…

• Efrain Escudero interview, UFC lightweight
• Diego Sanchez interview, UFC welterweight
• Amir Sadollah interview, UFC welterweight
• Michael Bisping scrum, UFC middleweight
• Rashad Evans scrum, UFC light heavyweight
• Rampage Jackson scrum, UFC light heavyweight

The bad blood started between these guys way back when Rampage fought Rashad’s training partner, Keith Jardine, back in March of 2009.  There was a post fight stare down that turned heated, and it lead to the two contenders squaring off as coaches on Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter.  The dislike intensified on that season of the show, and it set up a great showdown between the two…until it didn’t happen…

In September of 2009, Rampage announced he was leaving the world of fighting thanks to a dispute with the UFC.  He changed his tune in December, and then signed a new six fight contract in March…but all the while, he’s been away from the fight game working on other projects.  The biggest of those projects?  Playing Mr. T in the upcoming A Team movie.  So, it’s been 14 months since we’ve seen Jackson in The Octagon, which has many wondering if his committment to the fight game is where it should be.  And that’s a fair question.  Evans admitted he wonders that, and it’s not out of the question to think it might have an impact on the fight.

Both fighters are former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions; and both are hungry to get their titles back.  President Dana White has promised the winner of this fight will get a shot at Shogun Rua for the strap.  I like Rampage, he’s one of my favorite fighters, but he seems very…distracted.  He was surly with reporters on Thursday, refusing to answer any question referencing his focus.  Rashad seems calm and locked in, but very much wanting to beat Rampage down.  I think Rashad is a real good, well rounded fighter…I think he wins a decision here.

Michael Bisping fights in the co-main event, against Dan Miller at 185 pounds.  It’s a big fight for both guys.  Bisping is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Wanderlei Silva, and has lost two of his last three.  Miller needs a win to avoid a third straight loss; he’s dropped to Sonnen and Maia.  So, both guys have a ton of urgency…but I think Bisping is the better fighter.  He seems anxious to get in there, and he says this is the best training camp he’s ever had…he trained with Rampage for this fight.  I like Bisping here.

Other fights of note…Diego Sanchez returns to 170 pounds as he takes on John Hathaway.  After falling to BJ Penn at UFC 107 for the Lightweight Title, Sanches moves from 155 to welterweight, a weight class he feels much better in.  He tried the 155 route, but is happy to be back up the 15 pounds.  Amir Sadollah tries to keep his hot streak going as he takes on the highly respected Dong Hyun Kim at 170 pounds.  And former TUF season 8 winner Efrain Escudero takes on Dan Lauzon at 155.  For Efrain, he tries to bounce back after suffering his first UFC loss; he told me he’s going to make Lauzon work, which will be the tone for the fight.

Off to weigh-in’s at Mandalay.  Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Fan960Steinberg.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 28th, 2010 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.