Rampage Jackson may only be fighting for a couple more years. In an interview with ESPN he said:
“I’ve always said I’ll retire when I’m 35. I don’t want to fight past 35. There are young guys coming in and doing good. I’ve been fighting for a long time and it’s no secret that I don’t fight the same way I used to,” Rampage told ESPN. “I’ve got a lot of injuries, one or two things that bother me. But when I’m fighting, the injuries don’t bother me, it’s the training that gets old. Going through each camp I go through all these pains and think, ‘Man I don’t want to do this anymore’. But after the fight I say, ‘OK, I’ll give it one more’. So who knows? But at 35 I’m done.”
Rampage has given a lot so far in his MMA career and has seemingly veered off from his old ways in recent years. Rampage seems to have lost his knockout power and will to fight.
The man who is considered a possible contender for the light heavyweight title, is now the main event at UFC 130 after injuries forced Maynard/Edgar III off of the card.
If Rampage does retire in a couple of years, maybe that does leave open the door for the young guys. But MMA will lose one of it’s most vocal and great personalities