Perhaps Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is correct. Maybe, as the former light heavyweight champion has opined, the UFC does owe him a big thank you.
First, he gave an interview with Fighters Only magazine that handed that anti-testosterone replacement therapy crowd plenty of ammunition to run with. Then he fired off a series of tweets that were highly critical of the UFC of how they had handled his career. The highlight of those tweets was when he went and requested his release from the organization that he had fought for since 2007.
The UFC then announced that that Jackson’s (likely) last fight with the promotion would be a long talked-about rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
You would think that announcement would have been celebrated by Jackson, as the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel was shining bright. All he had to do was fulfill the last fight on his UFC contract and he could then pursue whatever interests he desired. Instead, it was announced that Jackson would need to undergo double knee surgery.
Although the UFC didn’t set a date for the Jackson versus Rua bout, it would seem unlikely that Rua would sit around and wait for Jackson to have surgery on both knees, rehab and then train for a fight.
As a point of reference, when Rua had knee surgery he was out for nine months. If Jackson were to have his surgery in early April, that would keep Rua out of the cage for more than a year, as his last fight took place in November.
Jackson recently sat down for an extended interview with MMAHeat, where he covered many topics, including his TRT, his spending habits, missing weight in Japan, why the UFC should be thanking him, how he felt slighted by the UFC, the things that went wrong in his first fight with Rua, and the progression of MMA.
The more than 40-minute interview gave the MMA world more to discuss and, as the old saying goes, any press is good press.
So, yes, maybe the UFC does owe Jackson a thank you, as he has given fans of the organization plenty to talk about during the current lull between fight cards.
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