With T.J. Dillashaw dropping out of the main event, it is now even more important to have Quinton “Rampage” Jackson fighting at UFC 186. The card lacks star power with Rampage off the card. If politics and legalities go through, MMA fans will be let down.
There are two things that fans love about Rampage: his persona and his desire to participate in exciting fights.
According to Fox Sports’ Elias Cepeda, when Rampage was fighting in the now defunct Pride organization, he had a cell phone number he made public and would chat with fans for a few minutes if he was available.
Cepeda also notes that as Rampage’s fame grew, he had less privacy and wanted financial compensation to balance that out:
To be brutally honest—I love the fans but I can only take them in small doses. Man, I’m just like them. MMA fighters are so accessible to fans. I just want to be able to enjoy some private times. If not, there has to be the financial compensation to cover it.
On top of that, Rampage is a character.
During a media scrum at UFC 182, he flirted with a female reporter, challenged a male reporter to a fight and complimented another’s mustache (h/t Heidi Fang of The Fight Corner).
Rampage also noted a lack of personality in the fighters in the UFC during the media scrum:
I think the UFC needs a little more excitement. I’ve been following a little bit and it’s been kind of boring.
It needs a little personality. Should I do personality classes for some of these fighters or something like that? Fighting is only half of it. You guys need some personality sometime.
Sometimes fighters are just too uptight, their egos. They want to be tough guys and stuff like that. Come on man, you’re an MMA fighter. Everybody already knows you’re tough.
Fans also know that when Rampage is in the Octagon, it will be an exciting fight. He has been a part of three fights deemed “Fight of the Night,” including his loss to Jon Jones. He has also been awarded two “Knockouts of the Night,” including his knockout victory over Chuck Liddell.
Perhaps due to his older age and established career, he doesn’t care about the outcome of fights anymore. He tells Mike Bohn of MMAJunkie.com:
People are stuck on winning and losing, that’s an American mentality. I’m over it. I don’t need to think the way everyone else does. I just want to come and focus on what made me popular—giving exciting fights. The fans love me, so the UFC brought me back.
Rampage is right: The fans do love him. Otherwise, there would be very little buzz for UFC 186. Hopefully, all of his efforts in the gym were not due to his legal issues with Bellator.
But Rampage doesn’t appear to have any hard feelings, as he sent out a playful shot to Bellator president Scott Coker:
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