The former PRIDE and UFC champion was tweeting from the 28th floor of a skyscraper as it swayed during a major earthquake event.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is a legend of Japanese MMA and spent his New Year’s Eve in Tokyo to catch RIZIN 45, the big end-of-year celebration fight card.
He also stuck around to experience the big 7.5 magnitude earthquake that shook the country on New Year’s day. The initial quake struck around 4PM local time followed by over a hundred smaller quakes that have continued into Tuesday. At least 45 people have died, but fortunately there has been no follow-up tsunami to wreak further havoc.
“It’s a big earthquake in Japanese rn and I’m on the 28th floor,” Jackson wrote on X (formerly Twitter) at 4:15 local time. “The building has been moving for 2 minutes now and still shaking. Yo boy scared af NGL happy new year.”
It’s a big earthquake in Japanese rn and I’m on the 28th floor. The building has been moving for 2 minutes now and still shaking. Yo boy scared af NGL happy new year
— Rampage Jackson (@Rampage4real) January 1, 2024
Daaaamn hope no one got hurt #japanearthquake2024 pic.twitter.com/gvYCuABgEv
— Rampage Jackson (@Rampage4real) January 1, 2024
I wouldn’t be standing under that sign,big props to Japan for their engineering. Honestly idk what I’d do in this situation. pic.twitter.com/hDKZHSSXkn
— Rampage Jackson (@Rampage4real) January 1, 2024
The epicenter of the earthquake was near the Noto Peninsula on the central northern point of Honshu island, with Tokyo eight hours away to the south east.
It sounds like an eventful vacation for Jackson, whose RIZIN 45 experience wasn’t quite what he expected.
“Got some tickets to RIZIN last minute and they’re in the nosebleeds,” he complained. “I need to learn how to read Japanese … My seats so bad these dudes in from of me watch with binoculars. The disrespect!”
Got some tickets to RIZIN last minute and they’re in the nosebleeds ??? i need to learn how to read Japanese pic.twitter.com/Cgwm1wW5E7
— Rampage Jackson (@Rampage4real) December 31, 2023
In 2019, Jackson headlined a NYE card in Japan, losing to Fedor Emelianenko via 1st round TKO. Now he’s up in the nosebleeds. On the plus side, he wasn’t just turned away from the arena like a certain former UFC champion.