Gets a little too religious at times but ya can't deny that he's done a good job thus far
The man who believed in ‘Rampage’ from the beginning
July 3rd, 2008, 10:42 pm · 1 Comment · posted by Carlos Arias
To check out audio from the final pre-fight news conference for UFC 86 and one-on-one audio interviews with Juanito Ibarra and Josh Koscheck, click here. (
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/strong-ufc-griffin-2084687-jackson-vegas)
LAS VEGAS - Trainer Juanito Ibarra believed in Quinton “Rampage” Jackson when no one else in the MMA world believed in him.
Jackson had just been knocked out by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at “PRIDE: Total Elimination 2005.” It was the third time Jackson had been knocked out during a 17-month span. The other two KO losses were against Wanderlei Silva.
Jackson’s once promosing career appeared to be headed on a downward slope, and he was only 26 years old.
Critics said Jackson had become soft after becoming a born-again Christian. They said he had lost the edge that once made him one of the most feared 205-pounders in the world.
Ibarra had watched the Rua fight and decided he needed to reach out to Jackson. He wasn’t looking to take on another fighter. He just wanted to give him some words of an encouragement as a fellow Christian.
Ibarra and Jackson talked four hours on the phone. The agreed to meet at a gym the next day. They have been together ever since.
Jackson has put together a six-fight winning streak under the guidance of Ibarra, including three consecutive victories in the UFC.
Jackson took the UFC light-heavyweight title from Chuck Liddell with a first-round TKO at UFC 71. Jackson showed his much-improved cardio in his five-round unanimous decision over Dan Henderson to unify the UFC and PRIDE 205-pound titles at UFC 75.
After a stint as a coach on Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 7,” Jackson defends his belt against rival-coach Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mandalay Bay Events Center on pay-per-view.
I sat down with Juanito on Thursday following the final pre-fight news conference for UFC 86. Here is what Juanito had to say:
On his biggest concern heading into the fight against Griffin:
“The most dangerous fighters are the ones that aren’t predictable. He’s that kind of scrappy kind of guy. He can do anything. The guy has the heart of a lion. He don’t stop. When we got into camp, I told Page, ‘You gotta be in the best shape. As long as you got your cardio and you want to listen in camp you are going to learn a little more and we’re going to take care of business.’ And I truly believe that.
“It’s not what I’m worried about from Forrest. I’m just worried about … and I’m not worried. That’s just a phrase. I want Rampage to be Rampage. Go in there and do what he has to do. Rampage can box. He can fight. He can punch. His Jiu-Jitsu is better than what people think. His wrestling defense and wrestling … we worked on everything like normal.
“So, you know, like I said, the only thing you worry about guys that are in great condition and that are scrappy guys is sometimes you gotta make guys fight you when they don’t want to. And other times you have to be in great shape to be prepared for anything that can happen. He might throw spinning-back fists. He might throw jumping knees. Forrest … that’s the kind of guy he is. He don’t care. He’ll do it. He’ll do whatever it takes. So, if he wants to get it ugly … I hope it gets ugly.”
On if an ugly fight plays into Rampage’s strengths:
“I hope he plays into that. I think he is smarter than that. I think he worked on the (Thai) clinch, of course, looking at the Wanderlei and Shogun fights. He’s a taller guy. I’m sure he is going to use his reach with the jab and move, circling to the right and using his footwork. You know, kind of tapping to win points. He’ll probably come after Rampage if it goes to the later rounds, and start to bully him a little bit and take him down and either submit him or ground-and-pound him. That would be kind of my game plan (if he were Griffin’s coach).
On if Griffin can fight his nature and willingness to slug with Rampage:
“Here is my answer to that. You can’t take a camp and bring in a bunch of new guys and expect to learn new habits that short. You just can’t. I have a saying: Fighters always go back to bad habits. Even Rampage, and I’ve been with him over three years, he still has tendencies to do things if I’m not there to remind him and to correct him and be like over and over and over. I truly believe Forrest is going to go back to bad habits, especially, when he gets hit. Because it’s going to be his reaction.
“You give a guy like that, a thinker that has to do everything right, he’s going to be thinking in there, right. Once you break that chain, his mind is going to go back to bad habits.
“You know what? Who knows? Forrest has shown that he is a warrior. he has a lot of good attributes. I really like the guy outside the cage and inside. I really respect his work ethic and he’s always willing to get better. So. you know, how can you not respect a guy like that?”
On Rampage and Forrest’s huge personalities:
“(Laughs) That’s crazy. The first day we met Forrest was at a Black Belt convention. And he met Rampage. He was at a UFC booth. We weren’t fighting for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, yet, and he says, ‘You know, one of my goals is to be funnier and better than you one day Rampage.’ Ever since then they’ve always had this duel to see who can be funnier.”
On the father-son relationship he has with Rampage:
“It is. He is like my son. It’s just the chemistry that we have. I told him I was going to give him my life. I said, ‘I’m going to give you my life, everything that I’ve got and make you champion. And when you fight for the championship, you will win it.’ We’ve accomplished that, but I want to make him … as long as he can listen, as long as he is willing to listen, I want to make him better and better and better.
“You know what it is? I believe my chemistry has to be much more than just in the gym. For me, to have a fighter listen and respect me, I believe if they need help in life I am going to be there for them as that mentor, as that Christian mentor father figure. Whatever you want to say, and it’s worked with us. For me, to understand him more outside the cage, he understands me more when we get to the gym … of how much I care for him and why he should listen, why he should shut people out.
“It’s still a struggle. There are a lot of demons out there coming at him, that want him. They say they can do this for him. That’s just part of this fight game. I’ve been in it too long. I see it before it comes. All In do is put up a red flag. But we seem to have that chemistry.”
On the chemsitry coming from him believing in Rampage when no one else did:
“I used to tell him. I used to be in dressing rooms, and the curtain is right here at a WEC event and (he heard), ‘Hey man, I think that’s Rampage’s trainer Juanito. man, that guy is washed up. It doesn’t matter who he hires. I should tell him, man, he’s washed up.’
“You know what? What they don’t understand about him is he had his talent in a box and he hadn’t let it out, yet. He was just going on raw ability, not understanding why he could do things, not understanding when he should go for a submission or even slamming a guy, or even if he can, what does he do next? Knowing when to use his jab, knowing when to go after a guy, knowing when to give him pressure, knowing when to back up.
“I think experience in this fight is going to be a big factor. I mean, as long as he comes into the corner and listens, and breathes first, and listens to my instructions that I actually give him, he is going to stay the undisputed chamapion.”
On picking when he has to be a calming force and when he has to get in Rampage’s face:
“It depends. I read him like a book. yeah, it’s all of those things. I just know how to get to him. It’s just our ways and repetition. Whether it’s in the gym or in life or driving a car, there are certain buttons I have to push sometimes with this guy. He is a character. Just to make him say ‘alright,’ because he’ll ignore the hell out of you and play a mental game with you 24/7. You know. He is a handful.
“I tell you, I just think it’s one of my gifts. It has to be one of the gifts God gave me. It has to be. I always said fighters are like whores or babies. You know, they take anything they can from you, very thankless, or they cry on your shoulder when they need you. I tell you, he has been more of the baby than the whore. I haven’t seen the whore come out of him. I pray to the Lord that it don’t, because that’s what’s happened to my past students. You help make ‘em or you help be something positive in their life, and they make it and they take off. And it kills you. With him and I, we are blessed.
“Cheick Kongo is my next student. I seem to have that chemistry with him, that in and out of (the cage) chemistry. Another kid names Josh Gaskins. So that’s where my energy goes.”
On how many years it took for him to find that right combination as a trainer:
“I tell you, the biggest heartache I ever had was (Oscar) De La Hoya. (Al) Stankey and I had him. It was … the way everything happened, as much time and energy that I put into it, planning, I really, really … that’s when I found God. It was right there at the Olympics, the ‘92 Games. He was right out of high school. He was in the Games. And that pain, just always hit me.”
On finding out that he had been let go by De La Hoya from other people and not De La Hoya himself:
“Yeah, Stankey was in jail. I didn’t know what was going on. I get a phone call. I called Papa De La Hoya. I called Shelly Finkel, who was our financier at the time. Shelly helped out. That’s when Robert Alcazar used to sit on the porch all day, ‘Hey man, let me go to the gym with you guys?’ What did we need Robert for? Robert was Joel De La Hoya’s best friend that had gotten dropped by the air-conditioning plant. Stankey had gotten busted. It surprised the hell out of me. He was living with me. Oscar was living with me on the weekends. It was a shock. I didn’t get a call from anybody. I had to call and say, ‘Hey, I’ll be picking you up for practice, son.’ No one ever called me to this day.
On whether he has spoken to De La Hoya since then:
“Yeah, I went to his camp and talked to his pop and brother and sister. I love the kid. But it was just the way he went about it. And I told him the story and I said, ‘If you plan on being that whore and not being as dedicated to me as I am to you, you know, people of God … can’t do it, son.’ I tell you what, I can’t go through that again.
“So with that, we (he and Rampage) were drawn in to each other. That’s why I always say it’s God’s plan. God is making this thing happen. He knows what he’s been through and he knows what I’ve been through, and as many champions as I’ve worked with. He is just my ultimate guy.”
On why he believed Rampage could be a champion:
“It’s hard to explain. I just know God, I dreamt, and God said call Rampage. I called Rampage. It took me about a week. I got ahold of him. He agreed for me to call him. We talked. We were in the gym the next day for 15 minutes. That’s the history of it. It’s just one of them things. God has given me a gift and thank God that I am using it and it’s with him. Our example is to show the example whether it’s different or not, that God exists and this is why we are together.”
