Issue 022
February 2007
Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson is the owner of a take-no-shit attitude and has a take-no-prisoners fighting style all of his own. Raised on the unforgiving streets of Memphis, Tennessee, he found that if he beat people up in a cage instead of on the street, he not only wouldn’t go to jail, but he could get paid too.
Working his way from the grass roots promotions of the US to appear on the biggest shows in Japan, Jackson is better known to fans outside of his home country and has fought only once on US soil in four years. This is all poised to change, as Jackson’s contract with the now-defunct World Fighting Alliance is firmly in the hands of the UFC. “I think everything happens for a reason and it might work out for the best for me,” said Rampage, speaking from Orange County in California. “The WFA, they had one show and it done crap, and the UFC is where it’s happening.”
As part of their plans to monopolise MMA in the USA, Zuffa and the UFC bought huge chunks of the WFA’s assets, in particular contracts with fighters such as Lyoto Machida, Urijah Faber and of course, Jackson himself. Rampage hadn’t fought in PRIDE since February of 2006, and when he returned to the US to face Matt Lindland last summer, many were surprised of his appearance on the WFA.
“We [he and the UFC] never had a bad relationship. You know, I beat their boy, I beat Chuck [Liddell]. I don’t know if they want to promote me or not, but I got no choice, I got to work, I got to make money, I got to feed my kids. I ain’t going to feed my kids off the WFA, I was supposed to fight in October, then it was November, then it was December.”
As yet there is no indication of when Rampage might appear in the UFC, and for now he is just training and waiting for the call. In the meantime, he gets to watch two fighters he has history with take each other on for the UFC light heavyweight title, a belt he may well find himself fighting for in the future.
Rampage is one of only a handful of fighters to have defeated current champ Chuck Liddell, and he is the only man that Liddell has yet to avenge his loss to. The other protagonist in this story is his long time friend Tito Ortiz, who Jackson insists he will never face. “I won’t fight Tito, that’s my training partner. It’s hard to find good training partners as it is, Tito and I have been friends for years. Chuck, I don’t care. If it happens it happens, if I fight Chuck, I fight Chuck. It’s no big deal.”
The nonchalance he exudes when speaking of facing Liddell is explained somewhat when he outlines how he sees himself fitting in UFC light heavyweight division. “I would actually rather work my way up, I haven’t fought since July. I want to get the feel for the UFC, the vibe and everything. I don’t mind working my way up.” Not only does he want to get rid of any ring rust, but he also wants UFC fans, who until are probably completely unfamiliar with him, to find out who is and what he is about. “I want the fans to know who I am, cos right now, some do, but a lot of fans don’t know who I am.”
The reason that many UFC viewers, especially the casual fans, are likely to not have heard of him is that from 2001 to 2006 Jackson fought only once in the US. His 2006 return against Matt Lindland was heavily hyped prior to his headlining bout on pay-per-view, but the small success of the WFA’s show left many fans still in the dark. PRIDE is aired on ppv in the US, but draws far smaller numbers compared to the UFC’s growing audience, and UFC fighters are often featured on free-to-air TV shows on channels such as Spike TV. The UFC’s marketing machine could do wonders with the trash-talking badass persona Rampage brings to the ring, but as yet Jackson is unclear what they will do with him. “Whether they [the UFC] are gonna promote me or not, I gotta go out there and do my thing, I gotta kick some ass.”
Kicking ass may be on the menu, but for now Rampage is just chilling. “I just stopped by Krispy Kreme to get me some donuts. I’m training, but I’m eating me some donuts. It won’t be long that I’ll be training real hard and I won’t be able to have me no donuts.”
Training isn’t as easy for Rampage as he’d like, as finding good training partners is often a struggle. “I train at a couple of different gyms. I’m in Orange Country, and it’s kind of hard to find fighters and people who are serious about training all the time. I go up to Los Angeles to train but its kind of a long way to drive. It’s a bit of a struggle.”
To prepare himself for battle, Jackson likes to visit Tito Ortiz’s high altitude training camp up in Big Bear. “You have people come up and training with you and they’re locked in and they can’t go nowhere. Sometimes Phil Baroni comes up there, and Trevor Prangley, Josh Barnett. Of course Tito’s up there and Team Dagger and all them guys.”
If he sounds like he’s cruising right now, he’ll admit he is. A break over the Xmas period will be spent with his family, and then in the new year he’ll get down to business. “When I’ll fight I’ll be 100%. Right now I’m just doing my thing baby, I’m playing video games, training, playing with my young ones. Living life…”
This interview was made possible thanks to Total Aggression Fight Gear, Throwdown Industries and Cryogel.
For updates on Rampage check out rampagemma.com
Interview by Hywel Teague
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