Interview With
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
MMA's Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion

By Jay "Swing" Wallace

From the moment Quinton "Rampage" Jackson storms the arena and erupts with his trademark howl it becomes obvious that the inventor of the "Whoop That Ass" fighting style is one bad man. His menacing "Rumble Chain", his intimidating stare downs, and his WWE style power slams solidify Rampage's destructive nature.

Born and raised in the tougher part of Memphis, Jackson had what he calls "the worst temper on earth." This furry resulted in many temper induced confrontations, eventually earning him the moniker "Rampage." Fast forward years later and Rampage has harnessed his temper, turning it into a lucrative career.

Since his debut in Pride Fighting Championships as a fowl mouthed, out of control street fighter whose brash ways made him a huge star in Japan, Rampage awoke spiritually and re-focused his energy on the things that matter most in life. Away from the fight game, Rampage is a proud father of four, including three boys who, in classic Quinton Jackson style, all share the middle name Rampage. Not surprisingly, his dog is also named Rampage.

His newfound devotion to God has been the catalyst for his re-focused success. A persistent top contender in Pride, Rampage fell short of his quest to become champion. And when his contract with Pride expired, he became the most sought after free agent in Mixed Martial Arts at the time. While the majority of his fans in North America hoped he would sign with the UFC, Rampage instead opted for the upstart World Fighting Alliance. His reasoning was simple: the WFA offered more money. After WFA's first show, and a Rampage victory, the company was bought out by the UFC in large part to acquire Rampage's contract and have him fight in the Octagon.

Rampage joined the UFC as the last fighter to defeat the UFC's biggest star, Chuck Liddell, which immediately made him the number one contender for Liddell's belt. As the old saying goes, some fighters just have other fighter's numbers. In only his second UFC fight, Rampage knocked Chuck out in less than two minutes to become the UFC's Light Heavyweight Champion. Rampage followed that performance with a five-round unanimous decision over Pride Champ Dan Henderson making him the first ever Undisputed Champion. Rampage had finally gotten his hands on the belt he had been chasing for the previous six years.

With his knockout win over Chuck and his reign as the Undisputed Champ, Rampage has secured his stardom in North America just as he had previously accomplished in Japan. The UFC couldn't have a more charismatic man representing the sport. And following suit with his legacy of superstardom is a list of Rampage endorsed products — All Rampage, all the time. Winning UFC gold will do that for you.

So, how does it feel to finally get the belt?!
It feels good, man. It's the best feeling in the world.

Now that you're the top dog in the hottest sport in the world, how has every day life changed for you?
Well, it's changed a little bit. You get a lot of perks — free stuff and a lot of sponsorships. I got a couple movie offers because I'm the champ too.

How does it feel to be the Undisputed Champ by defeating Dan Henderson for the Pride belt?
Well it feels good to be number one and make history. Now I can go down in history in the best sport on earth.

When you first debuted in Pride they portrayed you as the crazy guy from the streets...
Yeah, they portrayed me as homeless.

How much of Pride's presentation was real and how much was show?
Well the fighting was real but they just wanted to promote me as being a homeless dude. I never acted homeless on TV, did I?

No.
Thank you. So it was all real. They got mad at me for changing the steez up and not going along with the homeless skit. If you guys want to portray me as homeless then you gotta pay me money. You gotta pay me more money than you are if you want me to pretend I'm homeless because if the whole world thinks I'm homeless... man...

I was talking to this one Japanese chick who was interviewing me and she told me, "No, I don't like homeless dudes," and I was like what?! I wasn't homeless; I just didn't have a car! There is a difference. [Laughs] I was like, "Chick, I'll take you to my home right quick and show you my closet. I got clothes in there."

What do you miss more about Japan? Pride FC or the girls?
I miss everything in Japan. Japan is REAL nice.

Which atmosphere do you prefer to fight in? What's been the biggest difference?
Well a UFC show you got a lot more excitement and you can understand what they are saying. Whereas Japan you can't understand what they are saying. But in Japan they are really respectful and have a lot of honor.

Why do you think the majority of Pride fighters have had so much trouble transitioning to the UFC?
I think it's because of the change of atmosphere. A lot of guys haven't fought in the cage before. It's different from fighting in the ring. If the UFC guys went to Pride they would have problems fighting in the ring too. The ring and the cage are two opposite things. A ring you can bounce off of or go up under. In the octagon there is no escape. They are two different things.

What would you say the difference is between the Rampage of today who holds the belt and the Rampage that was beat by Wanderlai Silva and Shogun in Pride?
The difference is that this Rampage now has good sparring partners. Rampage back then was sparring with amateurs to get ready for the number one fighter in the world.

Which rematch do you want more?
Probably Silva because he beat me twice.

Is avenging those losses high on your priority list?
Yeah, I'd love to beat everybody who beat me. Honestly, everybody who beat me beat me at a time when I shouldn't have been fighting. I know I could win any fight now. I know I'm the best fighter in the world.

Would you give Silva the opportunity to get your belt, even though he lost to Chuck, just so you can get some revenge?
It's not up to me who I fight, but whoever they give me, I'll fight them right away.

You dominated Chuck Liddell, the guy who prevailed in the UFC for the last several years. Twice. Why have you been able to do what nobody else could?
Because I'm the best fighter in the world. God made me the best fighter in the world. I train hard and play hard. Chuck is tailor made for me. I just knew I could beat him.

Your new trainer Juanito Ibarra has obviously had a positive effect on you. How did the two of you meet up?
MMA is a small world, so it's not hard to meet up with somebody. Juanito called me up and said he'd like to work with me.

What kind of changes did he make in your training?
He's helped me out with my boxing, my footwork and everything.

What's a normal day in the gym like for you?
It's hell, that's what it's like. Four to six hours of hell. I concentrate on Mixed Martial Arts, Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, Cardio - everything.

Who, other than yourself of course, do you feel is the P4P top guy in Mixed Martial Arts today?
George St. Pierre. Who else? I'll tell you - BJ Penn. Fedor Emelianenko. Yup, all those guys. We got some really good guys. Some REALLY good guys.

So what about that Couture/Fedor fight? It's looked at as the biggest fight that can be had in Mixed Martial Arts. What's your call?
I don't know about that fight. I don't have an opinion on who I think will win. I'll let both those guys go to war. Fedor is a really tough guy and Randy? I'm tired of underestimating him. He always proves me wrong. I'll think he can't do something and then he goes and whoops a dude's ass. You can't count Randy out, so who knows. A fight's a fight and anybody can win.

Would you like to see the UFC let their Champions fight the Champions of other organizations?
Yeah. I mean, I don't care. I fight for money, right? So whoever pays me the most money that's who I'll fight for. If I can make more money fighting people from other shows then yeah, but if it's gonna be a pay cut joining up with another show then no I wouldn't want to do it. The only reason I'm fighting is for money. It's not to prove I am the best fighter in the world or anything like that.

So it's not being number one that motivates you?
I fight for money. I want to be the highest PAID fighter in the world. That's what I want to be. Maybe if I want to be the highest paid fighter in the world I'm in the wrong sport, huh? I should be in boxing then.

Yeah, probably. Get those Money Mayweather paydays.

Well I'd get my ass kicked in boxing so I'm staying where I can kick some ass!

How far away you think those pay days are for MMA fighters?
I don't know how far away it is. Some boxers make 100 bucks a round and some boxers make 30,000 bucks a fight, but then they gotta give their manager something, and their cut man something, and then they gotta give this guy something, and they gotta give the promoter something and then they walk away with five dollars! We don't play all that. In MMA we'll kick somebody's ass if they try and take our money like that!

I'm talking about the Shane Mosley, De La Hoya, and Mike Tyson paydays. The guys who are headliners in boxing like you are in the UFC.
Yeah, but those are the top guys, the household names. Hopefully one day the household names in MMA will get paid more than those guys but as far as regular pro boxers go? They're boxing, but we get paid more than them. We just don't get as much as the superstars. It's just like basketball. The benchwarmers don't get paid as much as Lebron James.

Let's talk about Ultimate Fighter 7. How has that been going?
It's been going great. I think this is going to be the best one ever.

Is this your first time coaching?
Yep, first time coaching. It's an experience I tell you. A lot of work. I don't want to give everything away to the cameras so it's kind of hard to even coach.

Any thoughts on fighting the original winner of Ultimate Fighter, Forrest Griffin?
I just think Forrest is a tough guy. It's gonna be a good fight. It's gonna be a great fight.

Before I let you go I'm going to throw a few names at you. What comes to mind?
Dana White.

The coolest guy on earth. I'm brown nosing now.

Mark Cuban.
I don't know him, but moneybags.

Pride Fighting Championships.
When I think of Pride, I think of the Titanic.

Wanderlai.
Wanderlai? I think of a punching bag.

Shogun.
Shogun is actually a cool guy. I don't think anything when I think about Shogun.

One last guy - since everybody is talking about him these days - Kimbo Slice.
I think of a cosmetic surgeon.