Quinton Jackson and Bellator MMA recently decided to fix their ugly issues after both parties settled on an amicable agreement that would take “Rampage” out of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Octagon and put him back to work with the Viacom-owned promotion.
So, how did they come to a peaceful resolution?
According to Jackson, a lot of it had to do him with him taking a financial hit due to the fact that he was sitting out instead of collecting paychecks doing what he does best, which is crack heads inside a cage.
As the ex-champ recently declared on The MMA Hour, the ordeal was so tough for him, his retirement plans almost came to fruition. But, at the end of the day, he felt he still had a lot of entertaining to do.
His words:
“It’s been really tough. I don’t wish this on any fighter. The weird thing about this sport is that we have to have managers, then there are the promoters. There is more to fighting than just fighting, and you know, I don’t read the contracts, that’s not my part of this. I didn’t know a whole lot of what was going on. I just like to fight, it’s how I feed my kids. I’ve done a lot for this sport, been fighting for 15-16 years and I just thought, man, I might as well retire. I felt like all I ever wanted to do was entertain fans. That’s all. When your an entertainer and you can’t entertain the people the way you’d like, it’s kind of like, ‘What do I do next?’ Lucky for me, I get a few movie roles here and there.”
Jackson intends to fulfill the remaining two fights on his contract with Bellator, but doesn’t know what will be of his fighting career once his obligations are complete.
That said, he isn’t opposed to one of those two bouts coming against Kimbo Slice, despite the fact that the two have a good relationship after “Rampage” served as Kimbo’s coach on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF): “Heavyweights.”
“When I did the Ultimate Fighter with Kimbo, he kind of mentioned something that he always wanted to fight me. Even though Kimbo is a heavyweight, I’m a big light heavyweight. So you know, we’ve seen Kimbo get in shape and do well. I don’t think he took DaDa serious. I don’t think he trained hard for him. I’ve been guilty of that before. If I had to fight Kimbo, he would most definitely train hard for me and get in shape. Especially with that embarrassment of that last performance. I’m a fighter, it’s what I do, I fight. I’ve fought homies. There has been a couple of opponents that I didn’t want to fight or didn’t think would be a good matchup. I am interested in finishing my career and entertaining my fans. If the fans want to see Kimbo get slammed and knocked out, then that’s what I am going to try to do.”
It is safe to bet Kimbo would come into that potential scrap in better shape than this.
“Rampage” last competed at UFC 186, defeating Fabio Maldonado via unanimous decision in what was Jackson’s fourth consecutive victory, three of which came under the Bellator umbrella.
So … any of you interested in seeing “Rampage” and Kimbo — real name Kevin Ferguson — mix it up inside the cage?