Written by Nick Halili | DUB Magazine | June 17, 2007
Here's the plot: there's this fighter who grew up poor and used to make a little side-money as an enforcer/debt collector. He later becomes beloved by his fans for his hard-hitting fighting style and warrior mentality. After starting out in small-time local bouts, he eventually works his way up to the big stage and a title shot for the championship of the world. He is pretty much living the American Dream.
But this isn't Rocky Balboa. This is the true story of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. And his sport isn't boxing. It's Mixed Martial Arts, a hybrid of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu and many other combat sports. Also known as MMA (don't call it "Ultimate Fighting"), it's one of the hottest, fastest growing sports in the United States.
Since "Rampage" Jackson has fought most of his career for PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japan, he may not yet be a household name here in America, but hardcore fans know him as the last man to have ever beaten arguably the most famous MMA fighter in the world today, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell.
The TKO loss to Rampage is the only one in Chuck's career that The Iceman has never avenged. Will there be a sequel where Rampage will once again square off against his Mohawked nemesis just like Rocky vs. Clubber Lang (Mr. T)?
Now that Rampage has been signed by the UFC, the biggest MMA organization in America, the answer is YES. But Rampage's story is different from Rocky's in some major ways. First of all, Rampage hails from the South (Memphis, Tennessee to be exact), not Philly. He's not Italian, and he's not a slow-witted lug like Stallone's alter-ego, but is known for his big personality and outrageous sense of humor.
DUB had the opportunity to catch up with Rampage in sunny Irvine, California, where he now resides, to get his insights into his fighting career, his whips and his future:
DUB: Explain what Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is to people who don't know about the sport.
Rampage: It's the newest thing; it's the best thing happening. It's like a true fight, but it's safer than boxing.
DUB: How is it safer than boxing? Some people are always saying how brutal it is, and are scared of it.
Rampage: In boxing, you get a lot of head trauma. In MMA, there's so many other ways you can defeat a person. We ain't takin' a hundred punches to the head each round. You may get bruised up, a broken fist...your kneecap might get twisted. I'd rather get that than brain damage any day. I was stupid before fighting. This is the way I am, so what you see is what you get.
DUB: How'd you become a fighter?
Rampage: I was always a fighter. Either you are or you aren't. Some people try to train and try to become a fighter, but it's in your blood or it's not. Maybe you can become a martial artist, but it doesn't mean you're a fighter. It was in my blood. God put me on that path and he told me this is what he wants me to do, and, BAM, this is what I'm doing. I used to fight to survive, but now, fighting saved my life.
DUB: How did you get started?
Rampage: One of my best friends in high school I used to wrestle with, Dave Roberts, he was doing MMA in Memphis. I helped him trained for his fight. Next thing you know, they threw me in a fight.
DUB: What's your main motivation to fight?
Rampage: I got 150 kids, and I gotta feed 'em all; that's my motivation. I ain't gonna be able to feed my kids, and I ain't gonna be able to leave money for my kids' kids, and my kids' kids' kids.
DUB: Now that you're in the UFC, who are you looking to fight?
Rampage: I'm lookin' for whoever jumps in my way. Since my boy Tito (UFC fighter Tito Ortiz) didn't get a chance to get the belt, I think I'll try to get the belt. If my boy Tito had the belt, I wouldn't care nothin' about it.
DUB: So if the belt couldn't make you fight your close friend, Tito, what if the UFC offered you some sick amount of money to fight him?
Rampage: Well, if me and Tito can walk away with $10-15 million, I wouldn't be his friend if I didn't fight him. I would disrespect him if I didn't fight him then. We could fight, and then afterwards, kick it like we did in Cancun.
DUB: You know everyone is dying to see that rematch with Chuck Liddell. How do you think it will go?
Rampage: I think it should be close to the same. I got a little bit better, maybe he got a little bit better, too. Did he get any taller? 'Cause I had a little trouble with his height...as long as he's the same height.
DUB: A lot of the UFC's success is due to the "Ultimate Fighter" TV show. Would you be down to be a coach on that show?
Rampage: I don't know, dogg. I got kids. Unless it's in the summertime. I ain't never coached nobody. Tell the UFC to give me a couple million dollars.
DUB: Would you use MMA as a springboard to get into Hollywood?
Rampage: Yeah, I wanna be the next Black Wesley Snipes.
DUB: Uhh...but Wesley Snipes IS Black.
Rampage: Ha, ha! Well, I wanna be an action star. I wanna be a rapper like [good friend and Wu-Tang Clan associate] Prodigal Sunn. I can't rap, though. I made a CD in Japan. Don't make fun of me, now.
DUB: How'd you get the nickname "Rampage?"
Rampage: One of my cousins named me that when I was eight years old 'cause I had a real bad temper. I used to play that game "Rampage" (Midway) and go around breaking stuff, just like the game.
DUB: Speaking of video games, word is, you're an avid gamer. What games do you like or are you currently playing?
Rampage: I've been a video game freak all my life. I play X-Box 360's "Need for Speed: Carbon" (Electronic Arts, 2006), "Gears of War" (Microsoft Game Studios, 2006) and "Dead or Alive 4" (Tecmo, 2006). They need "Tekken" (Namco) to come out on the 360. I got ideas for a racecar game and a motorcycle game. I got so many ideas, I guarantee you, people will love my ideas for games. I played "Halo" (Microsoft Game Studios, 2002). But when they came up with "Halo 2" (Microsoft Game Studios, 2004), it was more like for the online thing. I stopped 'cause my own team would kill me because they'd hear my voice and start calling me "nigger." "Nigger this, nigger that!" If you was right next to me at the arcade, you wouldn't say nothing. I don't ever tell them who I am, but I just forgive them for being ignorant.
DUB: What was your most memorable fight or moment as a fighter? Good and bad.
Rampage: My best moment was on my birthday. I was gettin' my butt kicked the whole fight. It was my first fight back from getting my hand broken. I knew I didn't want to lose. [Brazilian fighter Ricardo Arona] tried to put me in a triangle choke and I lost my temper. I have unlimited strength when I lose my temper. I whipped him up like crazy, slammed him, and I knocked him out. My worst moment was when I was fighting for the championship [against Brazilian fighter Wanderlei Silva in PRIDE]. I was gonna be the No. 1 fighter in the world. I had already beat Chuck. I was winning the whole fight and, BAM, I got caught. He dazed me, and then hit me with a knee. I got knocked the Hell out for the first time in my life.
DUB: Would you ever fight Wanderlei again?
Rampage: (Without hesitation) Hell, yeah; Hell, yeah!
DUB: Which other fighters do you train with?
Rampage: I train with Tito every chance I get. I train with Josh Barnett. My wrestling trainer Antonio McKee. Phil Baroni, Vladamir Matyushenko. I trained with Randy Couture...Brandon Vera.
DUB: Any pre-fight traditions, rituals, or superstitions?
Rampage: I always pray before my fights. You train hard, and you do your best. But I think it's up to God. It's already written.
DUB: What was your first car ever?
Rampage: My first car was a little red Plymouth. My cousin gave it to me, Brian Payne. It was a hoopty to the max. He saw that I was trying to do good in my life and gave it to me. I never forgot that. He don't know this, but one of these days, when I get financially straight, I wanna buy him a nice little whip with some rims.
DUB: Is there a story behind each of your cars? How about your 2007 Lexus GX 470?
Rampage: Right before my ex-wife was leavin' me, I bought her an SUV (Lexus GX 470) to try to bribe her to stay. It didn't work. She took the SUV and still left. So I had to get it back. My wife helped me out a lot, she cooked me food when I was training, she gave me "sexy time" and she's the mother of my kids...some of them. Ha, ha!
DUB: And your 2007 Lexus GS 350?
Rampage: I bought that car just 'cause it had the "PUSH" button. This is my
rocket! Before you know it, you're doin' 120 mph. I already got two speeding tickets, and I just got it. I got navigation 'cause I don't know my way around nowhere.
DUB: What about your Ford Expedition?
Rampage: I ain't never gonna get rid of that one. That's my baby. I bought that car from Tito Ortiz. It's all beat up and battered; I don't care. When I first started fighting in Japan, my credit was so bad I couldn't get a loan. So I just paid Tito monthly. I put an X-Box in there. It was gonna be my "Halo" ride, where someone can drive me around while me and one of my homeboys played video games. I'm always going places, and driving was taking away from my video games. But I couldn't find a friend who wanted to drive and not play video games. Those are some original spinners that Lexani gave me a long time ago. Those spinners are so old, but they still spinnin'! I ain't gonna take 'em off 'til they roll off. 'Cause I'm from Memphis, I still like the spinners!
DUB: What kinda cars are you looking to get with the big contract money you're gonna be making with the UFC?
Rampage: I'm pretty straight on whips right now. I'm trying to work on gettin' a monster truck. I ain't never seen no Black guy with a monster truck. Jumpin' outta the truck with my chain on, no shirt on, hillbilly-style!
DUB: What kinda music do you like to bump when you're driving? Music that gets you hyped up to fight?
Rampage: I like hip-hop, reggae, reggaeton, R&B...classic stuff, like Marvin Gaye. One song got me hyped up to fight, got me crazy. Some heavy metal song (Rammstein's "Du Hast").
DUB: Ultimately, what mark do you want to leave when you're done fighting?
Rampage: I want people to remember me when I pass away, when I'm in Heaven. I want people to say, "Aww, Quinton Jackson; he was a funny guy, but he was one of the best fighters in the world." I wanna live even after I'm dead.