UFC NEWS – American Fans Are Jealous I Like The Japanese Fans More, Says Rampage
“Back when I was fighting here, I had so much energy. I just wanted to put on a good show for the fans because all the energy they give. In America, you’re under so much pressure to win at all costs because the fans talk shit to you if you lose even if it’s a good, exciting fight. In Japan, it’s just a different energy. Who knows? Maybe I’ll take more chances and not care because it’s all about the crowd. I react to the crowd. I don’t care about the people watching on TV … In Japan, I used to slam a lot and put on more of a show because the energy from the fans gave me power and I don’t feel the same energy in the US. So, I can’t honestly say I improved or evolved in a good way since leaving Japan. I’m all about putting on an exciting fight in Japan. One thing I love about Japanese fans and why I love them the most is that they don’t care if you win or lose. All they care is if you have samurai spirit, that you put on a good fight. That’s why Japanese fans are my favorite. And American fans are jealous that I say that all the time.”
At today’s UFC 144 pre-fight press conference in Japan, the former UFC light-heavyweight champion, Rampage Jackson told the media in attendance that he likes the Japanese fans better than the American fans.
For Rampage, who spent a good portion of his career under the PRIDE banner, it makes sense that he may have a kinship with the Japanese fans who took him in as their own back when he was climbing the world rankings. There is something to be said about the Japanese spirit and their respect for the martial arts.
But jealous? Is anyone jealous of the fact that he is partial to the Asian crowds?
Thoughts please…
(quote via Daniel Herbertson from today’s UFC press conference)
Click here for the latest UFC 144 coverage provided by BJPENN.COM
Related:
About the Author
By JAKE CHASTAIN | RFA undefeated bantamweight competitor, Keoni “Evil Genius” Koch, was cool enough…
This afternoon, UFC officials announced that a lightweight bout between Jamie Varner (21-7-1 MMA, 3-2…
Another year down for the progress of legalizing the sport of MMA to all 50…
By JAKE CHASTAIN | UFC bantamweight top-contender Urijah Faber recently joined our boys Pedro Carrasco…
Internet sensation Tommy Toe Hold joined BJPENN.COM’s Fist-Ta-Cuff Radio show this past Sunday, June 16,…
As only he can, UFC announcer Joe Rogan provides his commentary on why Anderson Silva…
“In the first event, what Nick’s trying to do is introduce some rule changes —…
Television Executive, Stephen Espinoza recently tweeted out a behind the scenes photo of Mayweather and…
“I don’t take any of that personal. I don’t really tune into the underground and…
“Weidman got good jiu-jitsu and great wrestling, but he needs work with his stand-up. “Every…
“His name being brought up prompted it. He makes Urkel look cool. I would have…
The recently announced title fight between current UFC welterweight champion (24-2 MMA, 18-2 UFC) Georges…
Whatever helps him sleep at night, I guess.
WHO MADE YOU RICH, BITCH?!?
your the perfect example LOL shut the **** up you little girl!! Can you blame him? fighting in japan is most likely 100% more fun, and stress free… but there is a reason he came to the u.s. the same reason all aspiring mma fighters do.. money!
I’m very jealous…
Maybe if you put on a show in the good ole US like you use to in Japan the americans might show you a little more Japanese love!…I dunno
+1000000000000000000000000 fact all his last fights have been boring.
honestly dont care as long as its a great fight. I hope to see some Rampage slams lol
Do those still exist?….wait a minute Japan…Slams….could happen jat…lol
Care? What’s to care about? The man has a preference. I don’t think this is much of a surprise. I mean, Rampage DOES tend to give his honest opinion when provoked.
I’m latino. Rampage is the shit. No matter if he would it say the same bout latin fans, I respect that straight up mofo.
cant blame him. mainstream mma fans are ****in idiots and know **** all about the sport aside from wanting a knockout every single fight. its sad, and i can understand why he would feel that way. the guy gets shit on every time he doesnt ko somebody and gets questioned about heart and lack of skill besides his punching power. true mma fans could care less about winning and losing, or ko’s. fans who get the sport, and live it, simply want a fighter to give it his best and show improvement in his skill set. anything beyond that is icing on the cake
well said player!
Real talk thats how I feel about my favorite fighters, give it ur all win or lose but sadly I didnt leave the Jones vs Rampage fight with that feelin honestly
And yes American MMA fans ****in suck, not sure how it is in the UK or Canada but they’re arent many people I meet that I can have a decent MMA conversation with. Most of the bitchin haters r usually fagget computer nerds anyways which makes up 90% of the people on this website. The rest r just ignorant as hell, the type of fans at the events screamin when the camera comes around with a beer in their hand hopin for a knockout.
Ya know. Not much different in Canada. It’s that WWE mentality ingrained in most mainstream fans head. Which is where most came from. The best MMA fans outside of Japan are the ones who actually train, and are fighters themselves. Because they understand the fight game, the little nuances of fighting. We understand it’s not all about the big KO’s, or even the quick submissions. It’s the everything that leads to those. Sometimes great fights can be had without finishing. Not very many people understand that or appreciate it. They want their KOs with their blood. Anything else would be unsatisfactory.
Amen to that brotha
^ +100
Nicely stated.
yup…very true.
Wurd!
How can u not love rampage!?
He’s right..In Japan it’s even custom for retiring fighters to lose their last fight. In the US and Europe ‘fans’ demand a win and have the nerve to booh them. In Japan a fighter gets a standing ovation to honor the fighter and his career.
Japanese fans understand the true warrior Martial Arts spirit.
Bader will out wrestle and KO Rampage. Tito got lucky and well, we know how good Jon Jones is. Bader will be back on track and Page will be back on crack, looking for some more black on black crime.
you racist motherless dog!, here in japan, we don t say things like that we honor all fighters that do well, and rampage san will knock the **** out of bader and you can suck the scrotum out of a monkeys balls.
I’m half Asian, so yeah. I would be considered an American fan for sure, but I always back him up win or lose. I don’t criticize him at all. I can understand why he would say that. His American fans that don’t know that shouldn’t say a damn thing, they’re not in there.
You’re a fag.
Fortyb4five, don’t you mean “I can see you don’t use TOO much intelligence WHEN (use only once) YOU’RE on here.”
too*
you’re*
you’re a fag
maybe… he’s not as aggressive and carefless lol. but yeah some us fans suck, they boo for no reason ignorant people
it’s all about the DIE HARD/REAL FANS. they’ll stick with ya. it’s the fairweather/bandwagon fans that shit all over you when they’re not happy. it just so happens that AMERICA has a shit load of BANDWAGON/FAIRWEATHER fans that doesn’t share the same mentality and appreciation of the fights/fighters as the Japanese (and others) fans do.
rampage there are a shit load of U.S. fans that got mad love for ya. don’t forget about us.
+1 from Europe
We don’t chant “USA!” “USA!” “USA!” during a match.
We boo our own fighter if they GREASED or CHEATED in the past.
(Mark my words, sexyama’s gonna get booed in UFC 144)
that was heard during the Henderson – Shogun melee: “USA, USA, USA !” Was that for the Brazilian or Californian?
Be hilarious if he gets KO infront of his favorite fans lol
Whether he does or not, the fight fans in Japan will cheer just the same.
Love to hear how much more enlightened the Japanese fans are, Japan is the same place where Bob Sapp was a huge star and Jose Canseco fought, no one made you come to the U.S. and fight, but it is where the money and the talent are. Ever notice how the best fighters in Japan aren’t from Japan?
-]. That’s why I wanna move to Japan .[-
Japanese fans have more energy? They sit there in silence the whole time. At least you GET a reaction from the U.S. crowd. And by the way I trust BJ Penn.com fans way more than those Fedor fapping Sherdog goers.
us crowds suck. best crowds are the ones not full of opinionated losers who boo warriors. best crowd ive seen so far was brazil.
Best? They’re just nationalistic as all shit. The Brazil crowd is the best crowd if you’re Brazilian.
i liked the chanting and excitement in the air. you didnt hear booing or chants of usa from all the american haters. so imo i thought it was the best crowd. and im not brazilian.
totally agree with you. I thought it was really rude and shameful that the Brazilian crowd booed Stanislav Nedkov for KOing Luiz Cane. No respect whatsoever. The Europeans didn’t boo Carlos Condit when he KO’ed Dan Hardy. It really showed their immaturity and impoliteness if you ask me. Either that or the beer price there is way too inexpensive.
Brits booed Condit when he ktfo Dan Hardy!
They even booed the 30-27 decision to Hamill for **** sakes!!
Everyone who watched that fight knows that Hamill won and Bisping got his ass whooped!
The judges gave it to Bisping, and the crowd cheered that **** even though that decision was CONTROVERSIAL!!
UK Crowd = Sucks
USA Crowd = Brainwashed robots who chants “USA!” “USA!” “USA!”
Brazilian Crowd = Energetic
Japanese Crowd = Respectful
Nuff Said
Liar…………..lol
FUQQ YOU RAMPAGE, AFTER ALL WE DID FOR YOU!
can’t blame him. as a fighter i’d want a pumped up crowd. doesn’t mean he dislikes us fans, but let’s face it, we can suck sometimes
yeah… rampage always says something dumb. this is one of them.
I’m Brazilian and To Be Honest, I Like American Crowd ! They are always given a good Energy to The Fighters. The American Crowd have too much respect for the Fighters no matters they came from. The Problem is the Tv Fans !!! The Internet Fans !!! A lot of Trolls in the WolrdWideWeb !!!
I completely disagree about your “The American Crowd have too much respect for the Fighters no matters they came from.” BULLSHIT.
Japanese, English, Brazilian fighters gets “USA” chants everytime they fight in US.
American fans are like brainwashed Nazi Robots. Lol.
“USA! USA! USA!” my ass, gtfo. This ain’t no World War III.
It is Normal ! Respect has nothing to do with Cheer. I Don’t see any problem about US Crowd cheer for their fighters. Have you already Seen a Wanderley Fight ? Once Again: “Respect has nothing to do with Cheer” Have you Seen Shogun Vs Hendo? Absolutly Normal the American Crowd Screaming: “USA”, “USA”, “USA”, Did you expect them screaming “Brazil” “Brazil” “Brazil” ??? In Some Points of the fight they have screamed “Shogun” “Shogun” “Shogun” But The Most Important After the End of the Fight Both have earned a lot of Applauses !!!
I would expect them to cheer for the fighter they want to win. If they were chanting: “Hendo!”, “Hendo!” it would have been fine.
It’s not about the USA, not about Brazil or any other nation any of the fighters were born. It’s about two fighters trying to be the best. Cheer for the fighter you want to win, but leave the stupid Nationalistic nonsense out of the cage please!
if rampage reacts to the crowd so much then I would of expected him to throw some punches when they were booing him his last couple fights for being inactive. Just shut the hell up and fight
Now that is exactly the attitude he’s speaking of. Negativity, booing that’s not what gets a fighter going.
I agree Forty. And I agree with Rampage’s comment. Not all North American fans, but a good majority. I know for a fact that all the hardcore, old school, fans (who have trained, still training, and respect the fight game…any fighting discipline), never boo. They get disappointed (as anyone would), if the fight was lack luster and boring, with no effort by either fighter. But never boo. Booing is a sign of disrespect. Even the fighters I’m not very fond of as people, I never boo them. I do wish them a good fight, but always have a smile on my face when they are getting their ass handed to them. If they win, well, I get a little disappointed. But if it’s a good fight, I’m giving them props. Example, not a big fan of Sonnen these days, always been a fan of Silva long before he left Japan, but I gave mad props to Sonnen for his skills.
And that’s how all Japanese fans are like. They cheer for the warrior spirit of both fighters. And they are a culture deeply based on the samurai spirit. It’s in everything they do. There is no WWE, good guy vs bad guy mentality there. Just warrior against warrior. May the better warrior win. But respect to both none the less. There hasn’t been one UFC event I’ve gone to that someone wasn’t yelling obscenities at certain fighters, and they didn’t even have a clue on who he was. Only the fact that they weren’t American, or Canadian. I also remember when Shogun first fight in the UFC in Montreal against Liddell. I was cheering for Liddell too. But when Shogun came out, I was pretty much the only guy in my row (and couple of guys in front of me) cheering for him. People went silent in my area. They had no idea who he was. Some of them booed only because he was fighting the fan favorite. Then he TKO’d Chuck. And the three of us were jumping up and down. Now everyone else has jumped on the Shogun bandwagon.