Rampage joked.

Jon Jones seethed.

It’s about what you expect when you put these two personalities together.

There was the rambunctious Quinton Jackson, goofing on Jones’ practice of faux ignorance on July 19 during what was supposed to be a typically angry staredown at a press conference to announce the UFC 135 main event.

There was the soft-spoken Jones, trying not to act too peeved at a mockery performed by a man nine years his elder but not quite his peer in maturity.

The first strike of this coming attraction was lobbed with a light-hearted jab by Jackson, the UFC’s clown prince, who is full of jokes, insults, slang, originality, movie-star charisma, and occassional inappropriate actions.

Heck, his bit was funny — even if it has no bearing on the grand scheme of mixed martial arts.

Unfortunately, this is what you get during a relatively inactive stretch of summer that includes a Tito Ortiz main event: Analysis of the comedic timing of a challenger at a press conference for combatants who won’t meet until the fall.

But Rampage’s task in this headliner isn’t to make us laugh, or even goad the young Jones for the first time in his sizzling career.

It’s to beat him.

Who knows if Rampage will pull it off? At the very least, Jackson might stifle the young fireball in a couple of revealing ways during their Sept. 24 light heavyweight clash.

Oh, and this will be a true clash.

Upon an investigation of the dank gyms and myriad cages across the MMA landscape, it would be hard to find a pair of personalities more contrary.

Rampage is the offbeat jester; the veteran ex-champ who growls, howls and banters with the best of them. He provides the kind of color that we yearn for in our brawling champions.

Jones is the quiet newcomer whose oozing confidence and pyrotechnic ability are housed in a stone exterior.

Funny, then, that the pair trades traits upon entering the Octagon.
Jones is pizzazz personified. His attacks seem to come from imaginary places. He is vibrant and unpredictable.

Jackson, meanwhile, hasn’t really completed a rampage in some time. He can howl all he wants, but his recent efforts, while often successful, haven’t been anything to scream about. He’s been looking for home runs and striking out.

But, in MMA, wins can still be had even while striking out. To be certain, Jackson could pose trouble for Jones, whose title-winning destruction of Mauricio Rua roused the fandom and media in such a way that the word “unbeatable” was bandied about.

There are a couple of ways that Jackson could put a halt to such stimulation, and both would play off Jones’ relative inexperience.

Can Jones keep the taunting Rampage from messing with his mind through what’s expected to be a smack-heavy preamble?

Can Jones handle the pressure of fighting as the champion for the first time against a hard-headed dude who is rarely beaten up even in defeat?

Look, based on his recent ledger, Rampage isn’t blowing us away (unless you count some explosions in “The A-Team”) or giving us reason to believe he’s the same assassin who KO’d Chuck Liddell for the belt five years ago.

Yes, Jackson has the potential to beat anyone, thanks mostly to his boxing and power.

Yes, he puts up a good fight, talks a great...