Now well into his 40s, well out of his prime, and seemingly well out of competition, the former PRIDE star & UFC champ still has a few odd scores to settle.
When all is said and done, when the dust has settled and the history books are written, it’s pretty clear that Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson will have had a remarkable MMA career. A 2003 Middleweight PRIDE Grand Prix finalist, Jackson was a top draw for the Japanese Promotion before jumping to the UFC—from their purchase of WFA—in 2007.
That same year, Jackson won the UFC light heavyweight title, knocking out Chuck Liddell with a highlight reel right hook. His title reign ended a year later with a (somewhat controversial) loss to Forrest Griffin, but he still went on to pick up UFC victories over Wanderlei Silva & Lyoto Machida during his time in the Octagon.
Even when his best years were clearly behind him, Rampage put up five straight victories to start his run in Bellator. He ended his run with the Paramount-owned promotion in 2019, off a disappointing TKO loss to Fedor Emelianenko and hasn’t fought since. Even if he didn’t ride off into the sunset on a glorious note, the end result was a 20-year career of highlights and accolades.
Only, to hear the former Wolfslair talent tell it, he’s not done yet. In a recent interview with the No Jumper podcast, the 44-year-old revealed that he still has a few bouts he’d like to take. “Grudge Matches” with fellow legendary opponents like ‘The Axe Murderer’ Wanderlei Silva, Marvin ‘The Beastman’ Eastman and… that one guy on TUF that he made fun of for being fat???
“I’d like to do some grudge matches, since I’m old and stuff,” Jackson explained (transcript via MMA Mania). “There’s a couple guys I owe some ass-kickings to. For one, Wanderlei [Silva]. Me and him, we fought four times. We’re 2-2. I would like to box him or something different. Even the score. Then Marvin Eastman, I owe him a rubber match. We’re 1-1. And a guy from The Ultimate Fighter, Darrill Schoonover. The guy I gave the nickname ‘Titties.’ He hates me.
“And I feel kinda bad, because the young kids, they think it’s bullying when you make fun of somebody,” he added. “When I grew up, bullying was when you beat the s— out of someone and took their lunch money or something like that. But, now bullying is when you make fun of somebody’s shoes. And so people … I called him ‘Titties.’ But, he started the whole thing, he made fun of me. I was just funnier. I like to joke around.”
Schoonover retired from MMA back in 2015, with an overall record of 15-8. Shortly after his last bout he made a brief campaign to fight Jackson under the Bellator banner. In a 2016 interview with MMA Junkie, Schoonover revealed that he was currently finishing his undergraduate degree in water technology, with the hopes of pursuing a masters in psychology some day.
“I’ve dropped school enough times for big fights,” Schoonover admitted, saying that while he was largely done with fighting he’d make an exception for this bout. “I dropped out of school for ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ I don’t need to do that anymore. But I will take this fight, I will train my ass off, and I guarantee he’s not going to be ready for the first two or three months. It will be, what, six months before this even gets to happen? I wish it would happen sooner.”
That was seven years ago. Judging by Schoonover’s lack of social media presence in the time since, it seems like whatever moment there ever was to make that bout has long passed. They say that a dream delayed is not a dream denied, but it just may be that Rampage will have to move on to luring the other big fish on his wishlist out of retirement.