Sherdog’s Top 10: MMA Rivalries

Mike SloanJul 01, 2016

3. Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson


Bad blood existed between these two all-time greats before they ever set foot inside the Pride Fighting Championships ring together in November 2003. Reports of a Silva-Jackson scuffle at the Tokyo airport and some heated exchanges in the dressing room added fuel to the fire. Silva drew first blood, as he took out “Rampage” with a dizzying attack of knees to the head and body. They would meet on two other occasions.

Their Pride 28 rematch on Halloween in 2004 resulted in one of the most visually stunning knockouts in MMA history. Jackson floored Silva with a nasty right hook, but “The Axe Murderer” picked himself up and torched the Memphis, Tennessee, native with a blistering right to the jaw and volley of knees that left him bloodied, unconscious and dangling on the ropes.

Jackson got the last laugh in their third fight at UFC 92, where he flattened Silva with a left hook in less than four minutes. With that, the book closed one of MMA’s signature feuds.

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