Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson revealed to Fighters Only magazine in an interview after his UFC 144 loss to Ryan Bader, that he started testosterone replacement therapy (TRT)* about a month before the fight.
Jackson saw an “age-management” doctor who prescribed TRT due to low testosterone levels.
The former champ feels like a new man, saying he feels “25 years old again” lifting weights like he used to, as well as seeing a positive increase in his sex life.
One negative for Jackson, that he learned much to his dismay, was all of the weight he put on due to the use of testosterone therapy. At UFC 144, ‘Rampage’ came in six-pounds overweight for his light heavyweight bout versus Ryan Bader.
I almost pulled out but then I went to see the doctor and he told me to talk to an age-management doctor. So I went and talked to them and they tested me and said my testosterone was low; they prescribed me testosterone, to bring my testosterone levels back up to levels where I can be like… so that I am the same as young people, like when I was 25, and it would help build my knee up. I hurt my knee like a month ago and I only did three shots of testosterone but it put a lot of weight on me, a lot of muscle on me but it healed me knee up good enough to where I could fight.
… I started hitting it up pretty good, I still gotta take care of my knee but I feel like a 25 year old again. My sex life changed, I was back to five times a night like when I was 25, straight up. I got stronger, lifting weights. I was never good at lifting weights but I was doing everything, pull ups and stuff, everything with my top half. I gained a lot of weight but I gained a lot of water as well, I never knew about testosterone putting weight on you like that. I had to cut weight [for the fight] and I cut 22 pounds out of the 30 I needed to cut, I just couldn’t make the rest. I couldn’t make the rest.
Well to be honest with you I first learned about testosterone… I don’t know about health and drugs and stuff because I don’t really deal with it. I was never really big into it. So I was like ‘testosterone? No I’m not going to do that, that’s like steroids’ but then the doctor is like ‘no, steroids is stuff mixed with testosterone or other stuff, you can get steroids that do all types of things. Steroids for your cardio, for your muscles. Testosterone is all natural, its what your body produces.’
He was saying its like age management, it will turn back the clock and help heal you up. So I talked to my team and I really wanted to fight in Japan – coz you know I did all this stuff to fight in Japan and not in Chicago – and so I couldn’t give up and miss Japan. Everyone knows I love Japanese fans, they helped me become the fighter that I am, they gave me the energy and stuff. It was a hard decision but I was like ‘you know what, I am gonna do it. It will make me young and help me fight longer, which I want to.’
So I spoke to the UFC and they were like ‘yeah, a lot of fighters are probably doing it but not telling anyone.’ Me, I keep it real, I am not doing anything wrong. Its legal and I am not abusing it and I am not going over certain levels. From what I learned about it, when I got tested my levels my levels were really low and the doctor was telling me that athletes can burn testosterone.
Sure enough I did it like a week or two and, I couldn’t train but… that’s why I did this song about doggy style! My doggy style was buck wild man I’m telling you. I was like a young man, back to lifting weights and stuff, running treadmill and I could run and run. I could hit pads but I couldn’t spar or wrestle until I got to Japan, like eight days before the fight. In Japan I saw the change and so I decided I am not retiring no time soon, whether I fight for the UFC or not, I am gonna heal my knee up and get back on top. I feel young again. I’m happy I did the testosterone, I wish I had known about it sooner.
It looks like the former PRIDE and UFC champion has found a new lease on life. There was a lot of negative talk about Jackson possibly being done as competitive fighter after his loss to Bader. I’ll admit that I was one of them, but if testosterone therapy helps bring the old ‘Rampage’ back I’m all for it.
* I meant TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) when I wrote THT (Testosterone Hormone Therapy), getting it crossed with HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy).