If you think that Forrest Griffin really beat Quinton Jackson for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, you might be a racist.
At least, that’s what “Rampage” says, claiming real mixed martial arts fans know that he won his UFC 86 title fight against the original Ultimate Fighter winner.
During an interview with MiddleEasy, the former UFC light heavyweight champion and PRIDE middleweight champion didn’t mince words about his feelings on the Griffin fight. As Jackson puts it, anyone who thinks he lost the bout is a “bigot” at heart:
I got hurt. I couldn’t fight Glover. I didn’t want to wait that long. Forrest’s opponent [Chael Sonnen] pulled out. Why not just go fight Forrest? I don’t care. I’ll fight Forrest and I’ll still fight Glover later. Everyone knows I’ve been gunning for Forrest, because anyone who knows MMA—anyone who’s got a true heart, a real heart, and [is] not a bigot—they know I won that fight. That’s real talk.
Jackson’s statement was in response to his current situation with the UFC, as he’s currently campaigning for “exciting fighters” while he’s still under contract. That list doesn’t include wrestlers like Phil Davis, Ryan Bader or Chael Sonnen, who Jackson derided as “boring” options.
Rampage also stated that leaving the UFC was the only thing that would really make him happy, although he still claimed that world’s largest MMA promotion was ultimately a good force in the combat sports world at the end of the day:
I’m not upset with them. The UFC is a great organization. They’ve done a lot of good, positive things for the sport. It’s mainstream now. I can’t walk anywhere without people wanting a picture or attention or talking. That’s good, that’s what people like.
Honestly, I wish I could’ve been compensated a little more for the privacy that I gave up. People don’t understand that. I traded my privacy and my kids’ privacy and everything for the living I’m making now, which is—I could say I’m probably as popular as football players or basketball players these days. [And they’re] making millions.
At 34 years old, Jackson is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in 13 years and 42 fights. He dropped a decision to Bader at UFC 144 in Japan (later claiming an injury), preceded by a hard-fought submission loss to current champion Jon Jones at UFC 135.
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