"Rampage" Jackson (photo via UFC.com)

By FCF Staff

“Rampage” Jackson wanted to fight someone who would stand-and-trade with him in his UFC return, and he got just that in Fabio Maldonado. He also ended up facing one the promotion’s most durable and rugged fighters.

Jackson struck his way to a unanimous decision win over Maldonado in the co-main event for UFC 186, and although the former light-heavyweight champ appeared to land several, telling blows, Maldonado kept coming. At the post fight press conference, here is some of what Jackson had to say about his opponent:

“I’ve got no excuses. I just think that Fabio is no human. I hit that guy with everything and he was asking for some more. It was like ‘damn.’ I even tried to kick him in the head and it was like what the? I didn’t even think he would see that coming. I didn’t know what to do. I was thinking about blowing my bad breath on him…I didn’t think that would work either. I just kept trying.”

The victory came in what was Jackson’s UFC return, after the fighter left for Bellator in 2013. While discussing what he hopes to accomplish in his second run with the UFC, the 36 year-old stated:

“Honestly, I want to come back and beat everybody that beat me. I want to fight “Shogun” (Rua), Glover (Teixeira, Rashad (Evans) and make my way back up to Jon Jones. I’m on a mission. That’s the honest truth.”

With the win, which was Jackson’s fourth straight, he improved his overall record to 36-11. Maldonado’s now sits at 22-8.