UFC 135: Mile-high in Denver and howling at the moon with Rampage Jackson…plus Telegraph picks

It has been a cool three days in this most temperate of cities. The calm around UFC 135 shattered only by the off-the-wall humour of Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, a God-fearing man, fighter turned Hollywood star, who surely, when we are not looking, howls at the moon, and climbs sideways up buildings.

I am convinced I saw him out late after midnight last night, in a dimly-lit area of downtown, jogging past, hood up, his steely eyes looking straight ahead, his face etched into a smirk, that huge chain swinging pendulously side to side with a regular chink. But then again, I could well be wrong.

My point is this: Rampage is not just a fighter; he has been enveloped in a cloak, of celebrity and personality. He is a quasi-cartoon-like character from a work of fiction. Huge head, angular face, vicious-looking, yet drunk with fun.

The sublime apposition, indeed, is Quinton's manager, Anthony McGann, an Englishman so Liverpudlian he crushes coal as he speaks. Just yesterday, he turned to me and said (in a nice way): "You're a t*** mate, but at least your our t***, Gareth." I felt like crushed coal myself. Believe it or not, he meant it in an endearing way (I think).

McGann just grinned, and held out his hand, laughing. McGann and Rampage, and a group of scousers including Rob Broughton – a bear of a man who was born with his feet the wrong way round and had multiple operations to rectify the impairment and now fights at heavyweight – and Cheick Kongo, another huge heavywight with lethal striking yet the most elegant way of speaking English with his soft French accent, have been ensconced with a group of Americans in a staggeringly advanced training facility called MusclePharm, in a suburb of Denver for the last eight weeks.

The 35,000 sq feet facility has everything needed for a camp for a champ – including 60 seat cinema, apartment, recovery oxygen chamber, under water exercise machines. Truly state of the art.

But after two months, the camp are restless, and ready to fight.

Where Mike Tyson exuded menace, Rampage brings colour. Make no mistake, the man is teak-tough, has legendary status going back almost a decade in mixed martial arts to the days of the PRIDE championship in Japan, but everything he does is laced with humour.

They said Rampage was grumpy on Wednesday at the head to head news conference. Jackson had talked about how much he enjoyed his training camp in Denver, where he visited the zoo and "made a friend" — a monkey that he said looked just like Jones. It just comes out…Curb Your Enthusiasm. A tense moment saw all fall about laughing – even the UFC light-heavyweight Jones was grinning.

Rampage was 'grumpy' on Thursday, too, we were told at the fighter workouts. But he ended up talking about The Queen with your correspondent on more than a couple of occasions. He did the last time we were together. He likes the UK. He has had half a dozen camps there, in Warrington.

The team around Rampage, incidentally, mentioned the name of Mike Tyson more than once in the fighter workouts on Thursday, and the former champion may need that movement from head and waist if he is to get on the inside and become the first opponent to really test Jones's chin. The wise money is saying that he will not. His team are convinced that Jackson, who looks trim, will have the wherewithal to do so. I'm not so sure.

I think we may have already seen a changing of the guard with the emergence of Jones. Yes, Jackson is very tough, and yes, Jones is raw, but his physical advantages are quite incredible. But many are fascinated to see what transpires. Should Jones deal easily with Jackson – the heaviest puncher in the division – it may be a long time before Jones gives up the belt.

DANA WHITE ON MICHAEL BISPING AND A POSSIBLE TITLE SHOT AGAINST ANDERSON SILVA

Telegraph Sport spoke to UFC president Dana White on the record this week about Michael Bisping and a potential title shot for the British middleweight. As expected, White confirmed that Bisping is treading water in the contest with Jason 'Mayhem' Miller, on Dec 3 in Las Vegas. It is merely the tip off point for the end of the fourteenth series of The Ultimate Fighter, with Bisping and Miller opposing coaches. White confirmed a win over Miller would not move Bisping into title contention, but that he is in the top five mix in the division. Bisping would have to fight a top contender after Miller to get a shot at 'the Spider', regarded as the best all-round mixed martial artist of all time.

Telegraph main card picks:

Jon Jones to beat Rampage Jackson and retain the UFC light-heavyweight belt.

Josh Koscheck over UFC legend Matt Hughes

Nate Diaz over Takanori Gomi (hardest pick in my book)

Rob Broughton to take a surprise win over Travis Browne

Big Ben Rothwell to defeat Mark Hunt (but this could so easily go the other way)

Also looking forward to speaking to Cole Escovedo, who has an amazing background story and is one of those who suffers, quite brilliantly, from the triumph of the human spirit. And if you've read this far, you will have wondered if the altitude in Denver has got to me, I'd probably say 'yes'. But it's great to join the mile-high city club. If the UFC began here, it wasn't a bad place to start. Let's hope the event at the Pepsi Center lives up to the hype.