Wanderlei Silva and Quinton Jackson
If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring a video of one MMA feud to relive constantly until you are rescued, you should choose Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson.
This feud started in 2003 when they would first meet in the finals of the PRIDE middleweight (205lbs in Pride) Grand Prix tournament. The 8-fighter tournament held both the semi-finals and finals in the same night, meaning both were coming into their first fight having already fought early that night. For Silva, he defeated Hidehiko Yoshida via decision, while Rampage defeated Chuck Liddell via corner’s stoppage. Silva would win the tournament and match #1 of the rivalry in what would be their slowest paced (but still awesome) fight of the trilogy.
They would meet again for the Pride Middleweight Championship at Pride 28 almost one year later. This fight will go down as one of the most iconic in the history of MMA, and quite possibly the biggest fight ever in Pride. Silva’s vicious knockout that sent Rampage unconscious through the ropes is one of the most replayed moments ever in MMA.
They would meet again in Pride nearly 4 years later, but by then the years of violent fights and Chute Boxe training had taken its toll on Silva, and as a result he had become much easier to finish. Wanderlei had lost 3 of his last 4 fights heading into the 3rd fight with Rampage.
Rampage would get a 1st round knockout win over Silva, getting the last laugh while Silva is still able to say he took 2 of 3 in the feud.
