Oh, we’re throwing spinning sh*t now? CagePotato sponsored strawweight “Thug” Rose Namajunas is returning to the cage against Tecia Torres at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg (July 13th; Kansas City, MO), and we’ve got exclusive training footage of Rose training some fancy spin-kicks with Grudge Training Center head coach Trevor Wittman, and showing off her version of a fighter’s diet. Where *do* you put it all, Rose?
Oh, we’re throwing spinning sh*t now? CagePotato sponsored strawweight “Thug” Rose Namajunas is returning to the cage against Tecia Torres at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg (July 13th; Kansas City, MO), and we’ve got exclusive training footage of Rose training some fancy spin-kicks with Grudge Training Center head coach Trevor Wittman, and showing off her version of a fighter’s diet. Where *do* you put it all, Rose?
Oh, we’re throwing spinning sh*t now? CagePotato sponsored strawweight “Thug” Rose Namajunas is returning to the cage against Tecia Torres at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg (July 13th; Kansas City, MO), and we’ve got exclusive training footage of Rose training some fancy spin-kicks with Grudge Training Center head coach Trevor Wittman, and showing off her version of a fighter’s diet. Where *do* you put it all, Rose?
Oh, we’re throwing spinning sh*t now? CagePotato sponsored strawweight “Thug” Rose Namajunas is returning to the cage against Tecia Torres at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg (July 13th; Kansas City, MO), and we’ve got exclusive training footage of Rose training some fancy spin-kicks with Grudge Training Center head coach Trevor Wittman, and showing off her version of a fighter’s diet. Where *do* you put it all, Rose?
(“I’ve always considered myself a human being first and a fighter second. Sometimes that isn’t the best thing for my career.” Photo via Getty)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got into a car in New York City one afternoon this week, headed to Connecticut. Shortly after he sat down I asked where, specifically, he was headed to in Connecticut and why.
“I’m going to a little place called, ‘None of your damned business.’”
A standard tongue-in-cheek answer from Jackson, really. He was headed to Connecticut to visit a doctor of his.
The former UFC champion is currently on the mend from a number of injuries. He’s also at the start of what he is optimistic will be a flourishing new career with Bellator and Viacom.
After walking out on the UFC earlier this year, Jackson announced in early June that he had signed with the Viacom-owned Bellator Fighting Championships. He will fight there, wrestle on the TNA pro wrestling circuit, appear in a reality show airing on Spike and, he hopes, star in Paramount Pictures films, also owned by Viacom.
Despite this windfall of opportunity, I was a bit concerned for Jackson as an outside observer. Increasingly, he’s sounded less like the terrorizing, hungry fighter that became a world champion and more like an aging veteran content to show up, take lumps and collect a pay check.
“I know that realistically I probably won’t win all my fights in Bellator. But I’ll be damned if I won’t entertain people. I’m going to come over and put on the most exciting fights.”
That sentiment sounded generous, surely, but also a bit unsafe. In response, I wrote that “When a fighter who used to once be driven to be the best now simply hopes to titillate spectators by hitting and being hit, however, it can be a bad sign of damage to come.”
My concern was unfounded, though, Jackson says. Either I wasn’t listening or I didn’t get what he was saying.
(“I’ve always considered myself a human being first and a fighter second. Sometimes that isn’t the best thing for my career.” Photo via Getty)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got into a car in New York City one afternoon this week, headed to Connecticut. Shortly after he sat down I asked where, specifically, he was headed to in Connecticut and why.
“I’m going to a little place called, ‘None of your damned business.’”
A standard tongue-in-cheek answer from Jackson, really. He was headed to Connecticut to visit a doctor of his.
The former UFC champion is currently on the mend from a number of injuries. He’s also at the start of what he is optimistic will be a flourishing new career with Bellator and Viacom.
After walking out on the UFC earlier this year, Jackson announced in early June that he had signed with the Viacom-owned Bellator Fighting Championships. He will fight there, wrestle on the TNA pro wrestling circuit, appear in a reality show airing on Spike and, he hopes, star in Paramount Pictures films, also owned by Viacom.
Despite this windfall of opportunity, I was a bit concerned for Jackson as an outside observer. Increasingly, he’s sounded less like the terrorizing, hungry fighter that became a world champion and more like an aging veteran content to show up, take lumps and collect a pay check.
“I know that realistically I probably won’t win all my fights in Bellator. But I’ll be damned if I won’t entertain people. I’m going to come over and put on the most exciting fights.”
That sentiment sounded generous, surely, but also a bit unsafe. In response, I wrote that “When a fighter who used to once be driven to be the best now simply hopes to titillate spectators by hitting and being hit, however, it can be a bad sign of damage to come.”
My concern was unfounded, though, Jackson says. Either I wasn’t listening or I didn’t get what he was saying.
“I have the same attitude now in fighting that I’ve always had,” he tells me from inside the car headed to his doctor in Connecticut.
“People misunderstand what I say. I’ve always fought to entertain the fans, and I think I have a pretty good record [of winning] doing that. A lot of times you win but sometimes you make a mistake. You get caught because you left yourself exposed. I think I’ve done good with that approach. I’ve always been a fighter to entertain, not just to win.
“But when I came to America it got to be a little different because of the fans. The fans here are different and only care if you win. If you lose, they don’t care if you were exciting, or fought injured. In Japan it was different. Maybe it’s just different because they are speaking Japanese and you don’t understand what they say to you [chuckles] but the feeling back there when I fought in Pride is different than what I found when I came to the U.S. and fought in the UFC. I started to care more about winning, and playing it a little more safe. Now I’m just getting back to my roots where my main objective is to entertain.”
His wanting to simply fight in exciting fashion isn’t a sign of Jackson being burned out on MMA, he says. The Memphis native still wants to win. It’s just that focusing on fighting hard and being exciting also makes him a better fighter.
“It takes the pressure off me,” he explains.
“I know when two guys step into the cage, there is a 50% chance that one is going to win and 50% chance that he’s going to lose. I know that. Both fighters can’t be winners every time. So, I can’t focus too much on that and put that pressure on my shoulders. At the end of the day, it’s about entertainment.
“I could go out there and put on boring ass fights for the fans, taking people down and humping them like Chael Sonnen [laughs]. I can go and fight that way but I don’t think people will buy my pay per views. How can you be a fighter named ‘Rampage’ and be taking people down, holding them down, pushing them against the cage? There are a lot of tricks that fighters do like that and I know them all. I just don’t want to use them and fight that way.”
Jackson’s rosy outlook on his new Bellator/TNA deal also sounded a bit naïve, considering how he’s eventually soured on so many prior business dealings in the past decade. “Rampage” once thought Pride was great, then got sick of them and said that Dana White had saved him before then ultimately falling out with the UFC President.
The fighter trusted an old trainer with managing his career and handling his estate, only to become disillusioned when he says he was taken advantage of. Jackson says that his affairs are in much better shape these days.
He’s got a good contract with Viacom and it is the result of solid management. “Right now I’ve got one of the best managers in MMA,” Jackson assures me.
“He’s really good. He’s honest, which is the one thing that is very important to me. A lot of times the public don’t understand that the fighters, when we training for a fight, that’s what we focus on. We don’t want to focus on business while we’ve got to train for a fight. So, a manager is very important. A manager know basically everything about you. My manager now, he’s the one that put together this deal right here and it is one of the best deals I’ve ever had. I’m back on Spike, I’m going to fight, I get to do pro wrestling and I have opportunities for movies. Athletes always say, ‘I could be making more money,’ but I have to say that I’m very happy with this deal and he did a great job. I’m happy with everything.”
Certainly, there is a lot of business to manage in Jackson’s world these days. In addition to fighting, Jackson has already appeared on a TNA wrestling telecast and is pitching a movie script that he’s written to Paramount.
As a matter of fact, “Rampage” says that he just had a meeting with a writer that Viacom sent his way to help him work on his script. “They are helping me write a script. I wrote one but I’m not a script writer. They already got me on TNA and they are working on a fight for me before the year ends. Plus, I’m going to start filming the reality show soon. And, the car they got for me is going to get dropped off Friday.”
Jackson says that pro wrestling has always been a dream for him but acknowledges that the business may be even tougher on one’s body than MMA is. “Pro wrestling looks like it is tougher on the body than MMA because they do it so often,” he observes.
“When I was young I used to fight six times a year. These guys can go six times a month. My style of pro wrestling is going to have to be a style that is not so hard on my body. Maybe it will be a little harder on my opponents. My body has been through it. I’m going to have to bring my own style to wrestling. I’m not going to do crazy high-flying stuff because that’s not me.”
Jackson says that TNA is providing him with a pro wrestling coach and that he will begin to learn how to run the ropes, take falls and everything else involved in the wrasslin’ biz soon. For now, Jackson has to get healthy.
He hasn’t fought since January and doesn’t say how much he weighs at this moment. In the past, however, Jackson has ballooned in weight in between fights — making for tough weight cuts.
“I’ve always considered myself a human being first and a fighter second,” he explains.
“Sometimes that isn’t the best thing for my career but no one is perfect. Ideally, my ideal weight in between fights would be 225 pounds. But that is in a perfect world. I’ve got a lot of muscle on my body. You add a little fat onto that and there you go.”
After filming “The ‘A’-Team” and before fighting Rashad Evans, Jackson had a particularly large amount of weight to lose. He enlisted the help of former fighter and current strength, conditioning and nutrition coach Mike Dolce.
Dolce now works on UFC products in addition to his own coaching business and recently gave an interview where he claimed that Jackson was his most challenging client because the fighter wasn’t honest about what he ate and showed little will-power. Secret stashes of chocolate bars were a constant hindrance, according to Dolce.
Jackson dismisses Dolce’s criticisms. “Mike Dolce is just promoting himself. All that guy does is talk shit,” he says.
“If you look at the Countdown show to fights before I worked with Dolce and while I was working with him, my face actually looked better before I worked with him…I did my last weight cuts myself. I got a chef and did it myself.
“When was the last time Mike Dolce won a fight himself? He says I didn’t win without him. My last three fights I lost because Jon Jones kicked my ass and I was injured for my last two fights. I didn’t lose because of my weight. I’m a human being first and a fighter second…I don’t eat, sleep and breathe this stuff. I nibble a little bit sometimes. All you have to do is eat clean to lose weight. He has the ‘Dolce Diet’ and tries to fool people into thinking it is something special. Everything in the ‘Dolce Diet’ you can learn yourself by searching on the internet.”
Feuds, new business deals and everything else aside, if Jackson is going to continue fighting and do so before the end of the year, he’ll need to properly motivated to do so. He insists that he is.
His hunger to compete is back. Once he heals up, Jackson says he’s eager to get inside the cage once more. “Yeah. I can’t wait,” he says.
“I just want my body to get as close to 100% as it can. I’ve been fighting injured for a while. Fans don’t see that. All they see is you losing. They don’t see you missing training. All they see is you getting your ass kicked. What I’ve got to do is get my body right.”
At the age of 47, BJJ legend (and retired MMA fighter) Royler Gracie is preparing to return to competition later this year at Metamoris 3 (date/venue TBA), in a grappling rematch with Eddie Bravo. In this interview following the match announcement at Metamoris 2 earlier this month, CagePotato reporter Elias Cepeda recaps the first meeting between Royler and Eddie back in 2003 — which made Eddie Bravo’s name overnight and legitimized his forward-thinking approach to jiu-jitsu — and gets Royler’s take on their second meeting ten years later. As Royler puts it, “I’m not trying to make history, I’m already part of history.”
At the age of 47, BJJ legend (and retired MMA fighter) Royler Gracie is preparing to return to competition later this year at Metamoris 3 (date/venue TBA), in a grappling rematch with Eddie Bravo. In this interview following the match announcement at Metamoris 2 earlier this month, CagePotato reporter Elias Cepeda recaps the first meeting between Royler and Eddie back in 2003 — which made Eddie Bravo’s name overnight and legitimized his forward-thinking approach to jiu-jitsu — and gets Royler’s take on their second meeting ten years later. As Royler puts it, “I’m not trying to make history, I’m already part of history.”
While attending the Metamoris 2 pro jiu-jitsu invitational in Los Angeles on Sunday, CagePotato reporter Elias Cepeda had a backstage run-in with 27-time BJJ World Champion Renato Laranja, who gave his thoughts — if you can call them that — about Rickson Gracie, “poonchang,” Eddie Bravo’s facial hair, somebody named Señor Aoki, and how Andre Galvao vs. Rafael Lovato Jr. looked like two guys fighting for the covers in bed. It’s a moral victory for Elias, just for surviving to the end.
While attending the Metamoris 2 pro jiu-jitsu invitational in Los Angeles on Sunday, CagePotato reporter Elias Cepeda had a backstage run-in with 27-time BJJ World Champion Renato Laranja, who gave his thoughts — if you can call them that — about Rickson Gracie, “poonchang,” Eddie Bravo’s facial hair, somebody named Señor Aoki, and how Andre Galvao vs. Rafael Lovato Jr. looked like two guys fighting for the covers in bed. It’s a moral victory for Elias, just for surviving to the end.
The past week or so has been an exciting one for fans of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. It’s also been a little bit of a worrisome one as well.
Jackson has gushed about his new deal with Bellator and the TNA Impact professional wrestling organization. He says he’ll only be asked to fight when he wants to, that he’s excited to finally get to try out a long-time love of his — pro wrasslin’ — and that the Viacom family that owns Bellator might create opportunities for him on television and in movies, through their Paramount pictures movie house.
Jackson left the UFC earlier this year, not just on a three-fight losing streak, but also embittered by what he felt was poor treatment from the organization. Likening promoter/fighter relationships to that of personal, romantic ones, Jackson told CagePotato last week, “…me and Bellator, we tongue kissing right now, baby.”
The fan in me has a soft spot for Jackson. Like many of you, I’ve watched him fight for over a decade. He’s always done so with courage and in exciting fashion. Back in the day, “Rampage” may have also been the most accessible top fighter in the world. There was a time where he set up a phone line specifically for fans. He made the number public and waited for calls. When they came in, he’d pick up whenever he was available, and chat with whoever wanted to talk to him.
Not a whole lot to dislike about a guy like that, right? So, if Jackson has found a new, better situation for himself, where he feels happy, no one can begrudge him that.
The thing is, we’ve seen this situation play out before with the fighter. Being enamored with an organization before ultimately souring on them, and feeling rejected and disrespected when it was all over. While with Pride, Jackson often seemed quite happy. He defended the Japanese promotion in public and compared it favorably to its competitor at the time, the UFC.
By the time the UFC signed Jackson, however, he acted as if it was a life-saving event. I remember speaking with Jackson near the end of his Pride tenure and again shortly after he’d signed with the UFC.
At that time, Jackson didn’t only express satisfaction with his new UFC contract, he spoke of Dana White as if he were a personal friend who had saved him and done him a favor. Six or so years later, Jackson and White routinely trash each other publicly.
During a media conference call last week, Jackson said that Bellator promoter Bjorn Rebney is a guy who “gets it,” and is the type of boss he’s been waiting for his entire career. Jackson says that things are different this time around.
The past week or so has been an exciting one for fans of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. It’s also been a little bit of a worrisome one as well.
Jackson has gushed about his new deal with Bellator and the TNA Impact professional wrestling organization. He says he’ll only be asked to fight when he wants to, that he’s excited to finally get to try out a long-time love of his — pro wrasslin’ — and that the Viacom family that owns Bellator might create opportunities for him on television and in movies, through their Paramount pictures movie house.
Jackson left the UFC earlier this year, not just on a three-fight losing streak, but also embittered by what he felt was poor treatment from the organization. Likening promoter/fighter relationships to that of personal, romantic ones, Jackson told CagePotato last week, “…me and Bellator, we tongue kissing right now, baby.”
The fan in me has a soft spot for Jackson. Like many of you, I’ve watched him fight for over a decade. He’s always done so with courage and in exciting fashion. Back in the day, “Rampage” may have also been the most accessible top fighter in the world. There was a time where he set up a phone line specifically for fans. He made the number public and waited for calls. When they came in, he’d pick up whenever he was available, and chat with whoever wanted to talk to him.
Not a whole lot to dislike about a guy like that, right? So, if Jackson has found a new, better situation for himself, where he feels happy, no one can begrudge him that.
The thing is, we’ve seen this situation play out before with the fighter. Being enamored with an organization before ultimately souring on them, and feeling rejected and disrespected when it was all over. While with Pride, Jackson often seemed quite happy. He defended the Japanese promotion in public and compared it favorably to its competitor at the time, the UFC.
By the time the UFC signed Jackson, however, he acted as if it was a life-saving event. I remember speaking with Jackson near the end of his Pride tenure and again shortly after he’d signed with the UFC.
At that time, Jackson didn’t only express satisfaction with his new UFC contract, he spoke of Dana White as if he were a personal friend who had saved him and done him a favor. Six or so years later, Jackson and White routinely trash each other publicly.
During a media conference call last week, Jackson said that Bellator promoter Bjorn Rebney is a guy who “gets it,” and is the type of boss he’s been waiting for his entire career. Jackson says that things are different this time around.
“Ever since I did that ‘A-Team’ movie it like — it’s like I cheated on [the UFC]. And so, you know what I’m saying, like over here I don’t see any way I can cheat on Bellator, because it seems like, you know what I’m saying, they’re with Viacom. They got me all set up. It’s all in-house and stuff like that,” the former champion explained to CagePotato.
“I see me being happy with these guys for the rest of my career. Because, you know what I’m saying, I can just feel it. And you’re right, I was super happy when I went to the UFC. I’ve done a lot of favors for the UFC, and sometimes, I didn’t get my favors back to me.”
“Rampage” has been here before. Not only with Pride and then White and the UFC, but also with former management — and with disastrous results.
There was a time, early in his UFC career, when Jackson, a Christian, had a head coach who also served as his manager. The coach also had a tendency to also wear his cross on his sleeve, so to speak, and spoke about Christ and faith often.
Perhaps that was a part of what made Jackson trust him a bit too much. Who knows? Whatever the case, that same coach and manager also ran Jackson’s considerable estate. If there is any person on earth qualified to be a world champion MMA fighter’s head coach, manager, and also to have power of attorney or anything resembling it, we’d be shocked. But that’s the type of trust Jackson handed over.
When things went sour between the two, and Jackson also lost his UFC belt to Forrest Griffin, the fighter was so distraught that he went on an insomnia-, caffeine-, and grief-fueled vehicular rampage on Southern California roads, resulting in a police chase and criminal charges. After the incident, Jackson cited disillusionment with people who he felt had betrayed his trust and stolen from him.
I’m not saying that Bellator will break any contracted terms with Jackson — and the organization may very well be the best option for him at this point in his career — but we know that “Rampage” has a history of making business decisions based perhaps too much on emotions, perceived friendships, and perceived slights. So, it is a bit disconcerting that when asked what is so different about this deal, the fighter says that he just “knows” Bjorn Rebney is different when he looks him in the eyes.
Jackson has already voluntarily walked away from the best-paying MMA organization in the world because of emotion. Hopefully he hasn’t jumped into something new based on gut feelings about people he doesn’t truly know and vague promises about possible movie deals in the future.
That isn’t to say that movies and television (Bellator and Spike will create a reality show on Jackson) is not the best route for Jackson at this point. He’s accomplished more in fighting than most ever could and he’s accrued a host of serious injuries over the years while doing so.
Jackson is a proven action film character actor after the ‘A’-Team movie. He’s also brought in the biggest fight programming (UFC 75 and The Ultimate Fighter) ratings for Spike that the network has ever received. The Memphis native even looked like a good fit in his Pro Wrestling debut opposite Kurt Angle last week.
Like many other fight veterans, Jackson has certainly earned the chance to make a living doing less dangerous things than fighting. So, reality TV, movies and maybe even occasional pro wrestling could be the wisest path for him. Jackson describes those opportunities as “a dream come true.”
But, “Rampage” isn’t done fighting. He’ll fight for Bellator, even as he films reality shows, does pro wrestling gigs and takes meetings with movie executives.
With so many other ideas, plans and commitments in mind, will Jackson be focused enough to keep himself out of danger in the cage? He’s been fighting other great fighters, but it is worth noting that Jackson has also been getting beaten pretty handily lately. He wasn’t ever really in any of his last three fights — all losses — and he has a 4-5 overall record over the past five years. If a champion on the downturn of his career is to keep on fighting and do so without taking too much additional damage, one imagines he’d need to be completely focused on fighting.
Jackson insists that he is focused, and that he can walk and chew gum at the same time, so to speak. “Rampage” says that he’s excited to fight in Bellator, even in their grueling tournament structure. But, the fighter also seems to view himself more as an entertainer these days, in and out of the ring.
“Well a lot of people misunderstand things,” Jackson told us.
“Like people thought since I did a movie I wasn’t focused on fighting no more. I turned to a superstar and, you know what I’m saying, I didn’t want to fight no more and stuff like that. People always assumed things, and one thing that you misunderstanding is that I’m here to entertain people. I’ve done a lot in this sport, and I come from the Pride generation where it’s entertainment first.
“So I know that realistically I probably won’t win all my fights in Bellator. But I be damned if I won’t entertain people. I’m going to come over and put on the most exciting fights.”
Yes, Jackson has earned the right to try and make money entertaining us outside of the cage. When a fighter who used to once be driven to be the best now simply hopes to titillate spectators by hitting and being hit, however, it can be a bad sign of damage to come.
“As soon as American fans start understanding that — like two guys in a cage one guy has to lose,” Jackson said.
“When American fans understand that then you can really appreciate and respect MMA the way the Japanese fans and people from all over the world respect it. It’s just Americans — like we have different way of thinking, you know what I’m saying. There’s nothing wrong with that. We’re just different from everybody else. But my main job is to entertain the fans.”
