Earlier today an interview surfaced at Tatame.com with UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua who said Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (31-8) was offered a shot at his title before it was given to Jon Jones on Saturday night. Rua wasn’t sure why Jackson turned down the fight, a rematch of their first meeting back in 2005 as part of the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix tournament.
Jackson has since spoken out about his reasons to MMAjunkie.com noting that six weeks wouldn’t be enough time to cut weight and prepare for the fight, which would take place on March 19 at UFC 128.
Jackson is currently scheduled to meet Thiago Silva in May at UFC 130 at the MGM Grand Garden Aerna in Las Vegas. That fight is twelve weeks to prepare for that fight instead of putting in a training camp in just six.
“It’s not enough time to get ready for a five-round fight. Dana knows that. And ‘Shogun,’ he’s a fighter, and he should know that. He shouldn’t even go and say shit like that with him being a fighter. He saw me at the fight this weekend. Everybody saw how big I am…I’ve been living my life, so I gained a lot of weight. I’m a natural fighter. I don’t do any drugs, and I don’t know any high-performance drugs, so I have a natural body. My body gains weight when I don’t train and I don’t eat like I’m in camp…I’m 250 pounds, and I would have to lose 45 pounds in, what, three or four weeks?” he said. “The first time I fought ‘Shogun,’ I was injured going into that fight, and it’s haunted me all the way up to now. I always believed the second time I fight ‘Shogun’ that I’m going to be close to 100 percent as possible.”