Rampage hanging it up...

[Johnny McNasty]

Seems Rampage is done fighting guys. Posted this blog on his official twitter site a little bit ago:

I'm done fighting..
The UFC has done a lot for me but I think I have done more for them. The UFC bought WFA to get my contract & they saved my life, so I felt loyal to them. They pushed me into a fight with Chuck Liddel even when I clearly stated I wasn't ready to fight for the belt because the American fans didn't know me but I took the fight and didn't complain & after I won the American fans booed me for the first time which changed the way I saw them & it hurt me deeply.

Then before I can even get out of the cage they announced that I was fighting Dan Henderson without even asking me. After I beat Dan Henderson, I made history in becoming the first undisputed champion in MMA but was never even given the pride belt in the cage & I was never promoted as the undisputed champ. Later Anderson Silva was.

Then they had me coach TUF season 7 and fight Forrest and the fight was very controversial & normally when a fight is that close & controversial there is normally an instant replay. I can name a couple of instances. Instead they offered me the Vanderlei Silva fight which I gladly accepted even though I know it was a very risky fight for me to take because of all the drama that was happening to me at the time. I fought that fight with a jaw injury and then a couple weeks later Dana called me and asked me to fight Rashad. For the first time I said no, I didn't want to fight because it was such short notice & I wouldn't have had a long break between camp. Dana talked me into fighting Rashad anyway but Rashad refused the fight and so I had to fight Jardine as a favor to the UFC instead of getting my belt back (which wasn't even worth it to me financially).

Then I reinjured my jaw in the fight with Vanderlei & Jardine. Frank Mir gets hurt so they wanted to switch my fight from UFC 100 to the fight Frank couldn't make it to but I couldn't fight cause I needed jaw surgury. So they give Machida the fight against Rashad & they told me they want me to coach TUF season 10 against Rashad. That's why I wanted Rashad to win so bad but when Rashad got knocked out I told them I wanted to fight Machida for the belt but Dana told me if I coach TUF against Rashad that I could fight Machida afterwards cause this was a different type of ultimate fighter show they were doing. After I signed the contract Dana then changes his mind & says I have to fight Rashad & even told me what to say in the press & so my fans think I was scared to fight Machida. After all that I still never complained & I did it all.

Then this movie role came about that I have been trying to get for over a year & as soon as I found out I was close to getting it, I called Dana right away & asked to push the Memphis fight back just a month or so. I told him what this movie role meant to me. I told him that I used to bond with my father watching the tv show as a kid when my parents where still married & it represents the memories I had with my father when we lived together. My dad became an alcohalic & addicted to drugs & we grew apart. But after my dad got his life back together, I was so proud of my dad & I told him I would always take care of him in the future & make him proud of me. My dad & I are still very big fans of the show & I am basically doing this for the childhood memories I had spending time in front of the tv with my dad. Dana went on the internet & mocked me because of that & I still did nothing. Dana & I finally talked & we made up & then after that he went back on the internet & said some bullshit & he was talking bad about the movie when information is not even supposed to be released & talking about payments which is not even true could really hurt my future acting career, which could very well last longer than my fighting career. I'm not like Randy Couture. My body has been getting so many different injuries that I wont be able to fight until my forties & neither do I want to fight that long. So I feel like my second career could be in jeopardy.. so I'm done fighting. I've been getting negative reviews from the dumb ass fans that don't pay my bills or put my kids though college. So I'm hanging it up. I'm gonna miss all my loyal fans but hopefully they'll follow me to my new career & I will gain more loyal fans along the way. & all you hater fans out there can kiss my big black hairy ass! & anybody that don't like what I just said can come try to kick my ass!

I still feel the UFC is a great organization and I felt like I was very loyal to them but they didn't respect my loyalty but I wish the UFC the best. I did a lot of things for them. I wish no bad blood between us but I have kids & a family back in Memphis to provide for & thats all that matters to me!


F'n blows big time. Been a huge fan of the guy for a long time now. This isn't the first time fighter have complained about Dana his childish antics, dude needs to grow up.

Oh and here is the link to his website http://twitter.com/RamPage4ReaL.

[Crimson]

WTF?! Is he still fighting Rashad??

[McLegend]

I bet he fights again by the end of 2010.

[Reavant]

wow... he did have this posted on his site

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

He's a nutter.

[Jura]

Dana needs to stop fighting with his stars.

[Stickman]

There's no way his english and grammar is that good.

[alvarado52]

i hope to all hell this doesnt really go through...and if it does, i hope it doesnt last long.

[Mr. JL]

Woulde have been nice if he'd finished what he started with Rashad and backed up some of the stuff he's said. Now UFC fans have to watch Rampage talk a whole pile of crap for months that he's going to knock out Rashad only to not take the fight and retire.

[Fabien Barthez]

Yeah, but on the other side of the coin, he knows he got jipped out of his title shot because he is good for ratings on TUF, and coupled with his promoter basically insulting his outside interests, which could have an effect on his career in that field, which could easily be more lucrative... What do you do? Ignore all that and keep on headlining PPV's to 1.5million buys for about $500.000 a pop?

[The Ravishing One]

This sucks - but im all for Rampage doing what he wants to do. Dana needs to grow up and not treat his fighters like pieces of meat.

[Mr. JL]

I agree, Dana definitely needs to learn when to shut his mouth when speaking to the media concerning issues like these. On the other hand, fighters need to get their shit together too.

You sign a contract for 'x' amount of fights and agree to a fight, then follow through with it.

[Funky Fly]

Yeah, but on the other side of the coin, he knows he got jipped out of his title shot because he is good for ratings on TUF, and coupled with his promoter basically insulting his outside interests, which could have an effect on his career in that field, which could easily be more lucrative... What do you do? Ignore all that and keep on headlining PPV's to 1.5million buys for about $500.000 a pop?

This sucks - but im all for Rampage doing what he wants to do. Dana needs to grow up and not treat his fighters like pieces of meat.

I agree, Dana definitely needs to learn when to shut his mouth when speaking to the media concerning issues like these. On the other hand, fighters need to get their shit together too.

You sign a contract for 'x' amount of fights and agree to a fight, then follow through with it.

Correct.

[Kris P Lettus]

:'(

[Reavant]

You cursed rampage with starting that appreciation thread krispy

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Rampage I think just has issues he needs to deal with before he can fight his best anymore.

[Impact!]

Rampage is a very emotional fighter, a very emotional person, and he just let his emotions take over his rational thinking. I think that him and Dana White just probably need to talk it out, and get past it. I think it’s just a breakdown in communication. Dana’s the kind of guy who is going to say what is on his mind, maybe without thinking it through all the way, before he said. Rampage is a hothead, as well. You get two tempers like that, go at each other like that, it makes the situation hard to work through. I’d be disappointed not to fight him. It would be a good fight, a fun fight, but mostly because he talked trash. He got me really angry, and I want to fight him just because of that alone. It’s a fight that people want to see. You get your mind wrapped up, and you get your mind so psyched up about fighting a fighter, and then it doesn’t happen, it’s disappointing. That’s why I hate making a fight personal. At the end of the day, we’re professional athletes, and we get paid to do a job. But when you get to fight someone you really want to fight, that’s like a bonus. You’d almost do it for free…. I would have loved to punch him in the face for free.”

[Fabien Barthez]

Rashad should give him a call, say 'Come on down to Greg's, let's just do this behind closed doors' If it means so much to him.

[IC Champion]

Is Dana White crazy, in an interview I read he said Jackson was throwing away money. Is Dana White well? Jackson will probably make 2 years worth of salary or more to make the movie. Also, I would think a film career is much more promising than a MMA career.

Dana White needs to get off his own dick, and stop being so fucking jewish.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Is Dana White crazy, in an interview I read he said Jackson was throwing away money. Is Dana White well? Jackson will probably make 2 years worth of salary or more to make the movie. Also, I would think a film career is much more promising than a MMA career.

Dana White needs to get off his own dick, and stop being so fucking jewish.

I highly, HIGHLY doubt Rampage will get anywhere near 2 years worth of his salary for this movie. You gotta figure he got $385,000 for his fight against Wanderlei. If he would have lost, and not got any bonuses, he still would have made 225,000. If he fights 2-3 times a year, in two years, he's making a minimum of a million at worst.

With that said, Rampage does NOT have a lot of face value outside of MMA fans. How many non-mma fans know Rampage? He's probably not getting a large chunk of money for taking that roll.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Also, Rashad would kill him.

[Jura]

Maybe so but he's been in several movies so far and an A Team movie would bring his profile up even higher. He will still be a legend and favorite among MMA fans but it's a job where you won't have to physically train yourself for months and get beat up.

[Kris P Lettus]

I am really really sad about this and hope he pulls a Flair and comes back to never leave again..

[YOUR Hero]

Good luck to Rampage. :y:

Hope to see him fight again, but that's me wanting what I want.

[Savio]

Don't thy startfiliming in Dec? Dunno why they just didnt set up the fight for the end of november if they know he is leaving. people took fights on shorter notice.

Better to have an early fight than no fight at all.

[Crimson]

Pretty sure it was more than just a schedule conflict as to why he's retiring.

Apparently Thiago Silva will now fight Rashad Evans in january . Not yet confirmed though. Silva is good but a tad overrated,i'll take Evans there.

[Impact!]

and Evans is really over rated...

[CSL]

Mired in a very public war of words with his boss, UFC president Dana White, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson did an about face on his retirement talk early Friday morning.

In a blog post on his official Web site, Jackson said he now plans to return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and finish his contract.

“I wanted to let my fans know that I’m going to come back to the UFC & finish my contract. Not because the haters are talking (expletive) about me being scared of Rashad or Titties or anybody else. I’m coming back for my fans & to shut Rashad’s mouth up & shut Dana’s mouth up. Then after that I’m going back to doing movies & I might do a boxing match once a year just to stay in shape.”
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The rift started a few months ago when Jackson backed out of a headline bout against Rashad Evans. The fight was set for UFC 107 in Jackson’s hometown of Memphis, Tenn., following several months of build-up from he and Evans serving as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.

Jackson backed out of the fight to pursue a role as B.A. Baracus in the feature movie remake of “The A-Team.”

“He wants to do this thing, and he’s like, ‘listen, man, this is really important to me… there’s some sentimental value here for me, me and my Dad grew up watching The A-Team together and we loved it,’” White told reporters at a pre-fight press conference for UFC 102. “Well, guess what, brother? I said, ‘guess what Rashad Evans is thinking about right now. He’s thinking about beating your (expletive) ass. He’s not sitting around thinking about him and his mom used to watch the (expletive) ‘Love Boat’ together, and he wants to get the role of ‘Isaac the Bartender’…you know what I mean? Get a (expletive) grip, dude.”

Jackson also took a lot of heat for his portrayal on The Ultimate Fighter, receiving heavy criticism for his coaching and explosive arguments with Evans.

He addressed those critiques in his recent blog post as well.

“I’ve noticed that the UFC & TUF have some fans brainwashed or something. They still haven’t realized yet that the TV show is just a TV show. I did my job by entertaining people and if you ever paid any attention to me, that’s what I’m known for doing.”

Jackson gave no indication as to when fans might expect him to return to the Octagon. A source close to Jackson told MMAWeekly.com that the fighter was still finishing up filming on The A-Team movie, but was sure that Jackson was prepared to make his return once his acting obligations were met.

Awooga