Jackson says his relationship with UFC was never the same after White threw him under the bus for fighting injured in Japan.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is opening up on why he and UFC CEO Dana White didn’t get along when he fought for the promotion back in the day.
“Rampage” was already a star when he arrived in the UFC from PRIDE in 2007, and over several years with the company he won the 205 pound belt off Chuck Liddell, starred in one of the biggest seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, and headlined several big pay-per-views.
But things started souring between Jackson and White around 2012, and Quinton explained why in an new episode of his JAXXON PODCAST.
“I think I fell out with Dana when I lost to Ryan Bader in Japan,” Jackson said. “I got injured before that fight and I called Dana right away. I said ‘I got a partial tear in my meniscus.’ He said ‘What are you gonna do?’ I said ‘S—, man, it’s Japan. I still want to fight. F— it, I still want to fight.’ It was Japan. I love fighting in Japan.”
Rampage Jackson and Tyron Woodley reminisce on when they told Dana White about their injuries going into their separate fights, and then White would bash them at the post-fight press conference
Ex: Jackson vs. Bader in Japan
& Woodley vs. Maia at UFC 214 pic.twitter.com/UCDrTO2pEj— MMA Mania (@mmamania) September 21, 2023
“So when I went there and fought and I lost by decision, the first thing Dana did in the press conference is ‘I don’t know what’s going on with Rampage, I don’t think he has it, I don’t think he wants it any more.’ I was like ‘Man!’ That was when I — after all the s— that Dana did to me, when he did that s— that was when I got kind of pissed at him. And I lost my love for fighting right there.”
“Because I never pulled out of a fight,” he said. “I don’t pull out. I got four, five, six kids. I don’t pull out. I had never pulled out of a fight in my career. Never pulled out. And then after that I started pulling out of fights because I was like ‘F— this s—.’ You don’t get no respect for fighting injured, and I let Dana know right away that I was injured.”
“For him to do that, it kind of made me look at him sideways.”
Jackson is reportedly set to make his return in December against former TUF 10 contestant Darrill Schoonover, the man he dubbed “Titties” on the show. It’s a far cry from the days when “Rampage” was taking on the Liddells, Silvas, and Joneses of the sport. At least he’s regaining his love for fighting?