Forrest and Rampage Avoid Trash Talk

Forrest Griffin and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will battle it out for the UFC Light Heavyweight title at UFC 86: Jackson vs Griffin. Despite the high stakes - there does not appear to be any bad feeling between the two.

In the build up to the fight, Jackson and Griffin has been coaches on The Ultimate Fighter reality TV show. In recent seasons - this has built up plenty of bad blood between the rival coaches. Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock made no secret of their dislike for each other.

Similarly - BJ Penn and Jens Pulver continued their long running dispute in front of the TV cameras. Perhaps the most bitter enemies were Matt Serra and Matt Hughes. Unfortunately, after a full season of exchanging insults - injury meant that the pair did not get to settle their differences in the Octagon.

In a break from tradition - Rampage and Forrest are not talking trash. In a recent conference call, Griffin said:

“Whether you like the guy or hate him it doesn’t matter, you’re going to hit him as hard as you can. It doesn’t really matter how you feel ... you just want to win more than anything.”

Jackson expressed a similar view:

“It’s just a day at the office. It’s just work. I’m not training with him, I’m not watching him train and we’re not staying in the same house. I’d see him come to the gym and do this thing. It was no big deal.”

“I fight for a living. I don’t think it would be fair if I fought people when I was (ticked) off. They shouldn’t even let me fight if I was (ticked) off.

I’m happy to be making money and to be in the UFC and to be defending my title.”

Rampage has not fought since his unification battle against Dan Henderson in London last September. He believes the long lay off will actually work in his favour:

“It was good for my body. I never get a chance to fight at 100 percent, but I’m as close to 100 percent as I’ve ever been in my life. I’m glad I took the time off.”

Forrest Griffin earned a title shot with his stunning victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Shogun defeated “Rampage” at Pride: Total Elimination 2005. Jackson does not feel this is significant. He said:

“I could tell Shogun wasn’t the same guy that used to fight in Pride. It looked like Shogun got tired in the first round and Forrest got tired in the second round, but he had enough heart to pull it off. Shogun was a little bit more tired than Forrest. He did a good job, but if Shogun was the same guy that I fought and Forrest beat him, then I would have been more impressed.”

Forrest Griffin won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. His slug fest with Stephan Bonnar in The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 Finale is regarded by many as a turning point in the history of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Griffin has had ups and down since then, but seems to be on track now. Despite this - he is far from complacent:

“I’ve been lucky, but this is no time to recap and sit on my laurels and say I’ve done all right. I’m still in the midst of things. That’s something five or six years down the road, I’ll (think), ‘That was a good run or whatever,’ but I’m just getting into the meat of my career here.”