Should have entered this bit into the UFC 71 caption contest:
"[Chuck Liddell] was totally intimidated. I seen it absolutely. Chuck's the kind of guy that will shoot laser beams through you with his stare. He has them piercing eyes. Like Tito, Tito gets intimidated by that pierce-ness. When Tito tries that it don't work. Chuck is a true warrior, but I'll will tell you I seen it in Dana's eyes. I seen it in Dana when he was looking at Chuck's eyes and then he looked back at Rampage and then looked at Chuck again and really stared at Chuck's eyes. I seen it and I told Rampage after. I said you got in his head right now son. I see it in his eyes. Absolutely I seen it. Rampage was definitely in his mind."
That's from boxing-turned-mixed martial arts trainer Juanito Ibarra in a recent interview with ThaFormula.com. It was my goal to pass it along a little sooner but it just didn't happen.
Ibarra, of course, is the man who helped Quinton "Rampage" Jackson turn his career around and was in his corner when he defeated Chuck Liddell for the UFC light heavyweight crown at UFC 71 on May 26.
Rampage is now the only man to hold two decisive wins over the "Iceman."
In addition, Ibarra comments on one of his former pupils -- and former UFC tournament champion -- Vitor Belfort. "The Phenom" was once regarded as the top fighter in the world ... now, not so much.
Here's another snip:
"Vitor has, and this is one of the reasons why we are not together, I told him that he has more talent in his hand then I have in my whole body, but he didn't have a heart and he was fighting for the wrong reasons. I think Vitor has all the talent in the world to be the best but he's made some bad choices and usually they surround money. So that's why he's not one of the best in the world."
Bold statements on both accounts from a man who has been in the fight game for quite some time. Check out the full article when you have some time -- it's an interesting read.