And according to Duff Holmes, trainer for Matt Hamill, "there's just no way around that."
"The Hammer" (10-2) will try to establish his place among the light heavyweight elite when he battles former division champion Quinton Jackson in the main event of UFC 130: "Rampage vs. Hamill" on May 28 in Las Vegas.
Although his current five-fight winning streak is slightly marred by a disqualification win over Jon Jones in which The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) veteran was clearly getting his butt handed to him, Hamill has put together impressive performances against the likes of former mentor and TUF coach Tito Ortiz and rising middleweight star Mark Munoz.
His career has been a tale of improvement and he'll need his all-around game in full force if he's to put up a fight against the heavy handed "Rampage."
Or, as Holmes explains to Heavy.com, he could just just take him down and grind him out.
"We just looked at Rampage stylistically. No knock to Rampage – he’s my favorite fighter to watch because he’s so exciting, he’s got amazing power in both hands and hand speed like a welterweight. That being said, Rampage gets by on being the bigger, stronger guy in the Octagon a lot of times, and this time he’s not going to be. He’s going to be out wrestled and taken down, there’s just no way around that."
Jackson (31-8) was expected to face Thiago Silva at UFC 130 until the Brazilian bomber was bagged for prosthetic pee-pee. The promotion quickly offered him a light heavyweight title fight against Mauricio Rua at UFC 128 when Rashad Evans blew out his knee, but an overweight and under-prepared "Rampage" was forced to turn it down.
Now he's booked against Hamill and will enjoy main event status following injuries to Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, but can a "devastating finish" over his wrestling rival propel him to another 205-pound title shot?
Or will it be Wrestlemania next Saturday night?
How do you see this main event unfolding? Sound off!
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