‘Rampage’ routs Jardine in UFC bout

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson won his second consecutive bout, defeating Keith Jardine by unanimous decision in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday.

Jackson’s victory on the Ultimate Fighting Championship card gives him a chance to regain his title as light heavyweight champion by fighting current champ Rashad Evans.

“I want my belt back!” Jackson screamed after his 30th career victory.

Jackson had Jardine stumbling several times during the fight, but Jardine fought back each time. In the closing seconds of the three-round bout, Jackson knocked Jardine to the mat with a left hook.

“To be honest, I feel like I needed these three rounds,” Jackson said. “Keith is tough; I didn’t expect him to be that tough.”

In the co-main event, heavyweight Shane Carwin improved to 11-0 by knocking off Gabriel Gonzaga (10-4) by technical knockout 1:09 into the first round.

Carwin, 34, dropped Gonzaga, 29, to the mat with a right punch to the face and delivered two more punches before the referee stopped the bout.

Earlier on the card, Matt Brown put on a dominant display, winning by TKO 1:32 into the first round of his welterweight bout against Pete Sell.

Brown, an Ohio native, gave his home state much to cheer about, delivering a series of punches, knees and kicks that had Sell “out on his feet,” Brown said.

“I was pushing him, and he was falling,” Brown said after raising his record to 12-2.

Fan favorite Matt “The Hammer” Hamill, who is deaf, won his light heavyweight bout against previously undefeated Mark Munoz by knockout 3:53 into the first round.

Hamill, another Ohio native, connected on a right kick to Munoz’s head, which knocked Munoz to the ground, and after a few glancing punches the referee stopped the fight.

“I needed to get my kick (going),” Hamill said. “(I was) waiting for the right spot, the right time — bang!”

Also on the main card, lightweight Gray Maynard remained unbeaten (8-0-1) by winning a unanimous decision over Jim Miller (13-2). All three judges scored the bout 30-27 for Maynard, a three-time NCAA All-America wrestler at Michigan State.

In a controversial and quick ending to one of the undercard bouts, Shane Nelson won by TKO 44 seconds into the first round against Aaron Riley in a lightweight matchup.

Neither fighter was happy about the bout being stopped, though Riley was knocked to the canvas with a series of punches. Nelson apologized to the Nationwide Arena crowd.

“It wasn’t my call,” he said. “It was out of my hands if the ref stopped it. We can do it again.”

Riley said: “It was definitely an early stoppage. Everybody saw me take a whole lot worse than that.”