Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Pride FC Fighters

9. Quinton Jackson

I'll preface this by saying that “Rampage” in Pride was the most purely entertaining fighter I've ever seen in MMA. Whether it was his hilarious backstage interviews and vignettes or his nonstop action style of fighting, he was guaranteed entertainment of the highest caliber. And yet, I didn't include Rampage in my own Top 10. His career in Pride wasn't nearly as good as people recall and may be influenced by memories of his early time in the UFC, which was much better, or just how fun he was in Japan. While his Pride record stands at 12-5, it could easily have been 10-7. An early submission loss to Kazushi Sakuraba is forgivable, and his DQ loss to Daijiro Matsui due to a groin kick 14 seconds in was a way to give a Japanese fighter a big win. “Rampage” did score excellent knockouts of Chuck Liddell, Ricardo Arona and Kevin Randleman, as well as beating Igor Vovchanchyn via injury. However, not only was he viciously knocked out twice by Wanderlei Silva and once by Mauricio Rua, the latter an utterly one-sided beating, but his split decision wins over Murilo Bustamante and Murilo Rua were robberies—especially the latter, with even Jackson reacting with shock and shaking his head after being declared the victor. Something about facing Brazilians named Murilo, I guess. Consider that both men were substantially smaller than Jackson, too. “Rampage” was always a top contender but he never quite won anything, either a Grand Prix or regular championship. He is easily in the Top 5 of most colorful, memorable, and iconic Pride stars, but in terms of accomplishments, I would put others ahead of him.

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