On this day in 2004, an MMA legend delivered one of the most devastating knockouts of all time.
It doesn’t take long to realize why Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson was one of the sport’s biggest stars when he was at his peak.
His personality certainly helped, but it was his ruthless power that really helped him climb to the top in both PRIDE and the UFC.
While Jackson has his favorite UFC knockout, when it comes to his time in Japan, there’s one highlight that clearly stands above the rest.
After Jackson demolished Masaaki Satake by slamming him into the floor, he would go on to record the most iconic finish of his career two years later by producing an even more brutal slam.
Joe Rogan highlighted the damage that Ricardo Arona took when being slammed by Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson
On this day in 2004, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson came into PRIDE Critical Countdown looking to chase a rematch with his great rival, Wanderlei Silva.
He was matched with submission specialist Ricardo Arona, who had hit the ground running in the Japanese promotion, winning three in a row after beating Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson and Murilo Rua.
Past the 7-minute mark, Arona looked to lock up a triangle from his back which appeared to be tightening around ‘Rampage’.
Jackson’s answer to the submission threat was to use his pure power to lift his opponent high into the air before driving him back down to the mat with devastating impact.
Arona was instantly knocked out after his head crashed into the canvas, with Joe Rogan reflecting on the finish during an episode of the JRE MMA Show alongside Jackson.
The UFC commentator went on to say that this one slam might be the hardest hit that anyone has ever taken in mixed martial arts.
“You got your whole body like this and he’s over the top of your head. That’s so much force. That may be the hardest anybody’s ever been hit in this sport because look at the amount of travel he does. Bro, you got him like 12 feet in the air, look at that. He goes straight, and you were powerful as f— back then.”
Joe Rogan stated that Ricardo Arona was never the same again after being slammed by Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson
During an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan spoke about the knockout again, once again highlighting the amount of damage that Ricardo Arona took.
“I mean that dude definitely could have died. He probably got the worst trauma, the worst brain trauma.”
Rogan went as far as to say that this knockout changed Arona’s career completely, though the Brazilian was able to bounce back from this defeat by winning four in a row, beating the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba and Wanderlei Silva to advance to the finals of the 2005 PRIDE middleweight Grand Prix.
“That was the worst and this guy was never the same again,” Rogan reflected. “Ricardo Arona was never the same again.”
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