Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter who rose to prominence with his fights in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships. He is the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion losing to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 by unanimous decision. He has a professional record of 30 wins with 7 losses. Jackson is ranked by Sherdog as the number #3 light heavyweight in the world. Outside the ring, he is known for his humor and colorful personality.

Mixed martial arts career

Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, USA, Jackson had his first taste of combat sport as a wrestler for Raleigh-Egypt High School where his successful career was punctuated by All-State honors. Originally, Jackson had intended on pursuing a career in professional wrestling upon finishing high school, but ultimately ended up extending his amateur career in junior college before discovering mixed martial arts. Impressed by the success of other wrestlers in MMA, Jackson decided to try his own hand at the sport. Jackson built up an impressive record of 11 wins and 1 loss fighting for a variety of smaller scale American promotions, including King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and Dangerzone.

Pride Fighting Championships

For all his early successes it was not on his native soil but rather in Japan's Pride organization that Jackson rose to fame in the world of mixed martial arts. Entering Pride in 2001 as a previously unknown fighter, Jackson was matched at Pride 15 against fellow wrestler and Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba, who was at that time Pride's most prominent domestic fighter. Jackson lost due to a rear naked choke from Sakuraba, but his performance opened the eyes of Pride's fan base and its executive office.

After beating pro-wrestler Alexander Otsuka in a fight for the Battlarts promotion, Jackson was invited back for Pride 17 where he scored a knockout victory over Otsuka’s training partner, Yuki Ishikawa. In his next fight, Jackson was disqualified for an accidental low blow against Daijiro Matsui.

Jackson then went on to defeat Masaaki Satake, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kevin Randleman and Mikhail Illoukhine in successive Pride bouts. He also made forays into kickboxing with a pair of victories over kickboxer Cyril Abidi, under K-1 rules.[citation needed] In 2002, when Pride Fighting Championships and K-1 were exchanging talent, Jackson was sent to fight kickboxer Cyril Abidi under K-1 rules. The first kickboxing bout between Abidi and Jackson was on July 14, 2002. Many expected Jackson's wild style of striking would not translate into the K-1 ring, thinking he would be outclassed by such a schooled and disciplined striker as Abidi.[5] Instead, Jackson overwhelmed Abidi from the opening bell, and knocked him down less than a minute into the bout. Jackson then scored a hard underhand right to the chin of Abidi, knocking him out only 1:55 into the very first round.

Later in the year, Abidi wanted to prove his loss to the undisciplined Jackson was nothing more than a fluke, and faced him on the New Year's Eve Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye card, again in a K-1 rules bout. Jackson laid a lot of criticism to rest by once again defeating Abidi, this time not by early knockout, but via a clear decision.[citation needed] It would be Jackson's last foray with kickboxing, as he returned to full-time MMA competition after his second win over Abidi.

Around this time, Jackson began stating his intentions to capture the Pride middleweight (205 lb/93kb) title from Wanderlei Silva. In the opening round of Pride's 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix, Jackson won a split decision over Murilo Bustamante. Three months later, Jackson defeated UFC fighter Chuck Liddell in the tournament's semi-finals at Pride Final Conflict 2003 by corner stoppage, putting him in place to battle Silva in the tournament finals that night. Jackson fought for the championship against Silva in what was called fight of the year by various MMA media.[who?] After taking Wanderlei Silva down and bloodying him, a stand-up was called by the referee and Jackson was stopped with a series of knees to the head.
Jackson famously slamming Ricardo Arona, while in a triangle choke, for the KO in Pride Critical Countdown 2004.

Jackson continued his Pride career with victories over Ikuhisa Minowa and Ricardo Arona, finishing the latter bout with a powerbomb slam by which Jackson rendered Arona unconscious after Arona had locked Jackson in a very tight triangle choke.

Prior to his rematch with Silva, the notoriously brash Jackson made headlines with the public announcement of his conversion to born again Christianity. In the fight itself, Jackson floored Silva in the opening round and later scored a takedown which led to a series of knees and elbows at the end of the round. Jackson scored another takedown in the second round, but Silva escaped to his feet and proceeded to brutally knock out Jackson with knee strikes to the head for the second time.

Jackson's next two bouts were against Silva's Chute Boxe training camp partners. He won a split decision over Murilo "Ninja" Rua, but fell to Rua's younger brother, Shogun Rua, via TKO in the elimination series of Pride's 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix, where Rua broke several of Jackson's ribs early in the fight and proceeded to win by soccer kicks to Jackson's head.

Jackson was berated by his trainers following the loss to "Shogun". Soon after, Jackson was contacted by veteran boxing and MMA trainer Juanito Ibarra, who saw potential in Jackson's natural abilities but viewed his profane reputation as a downfall. After a short conversation, Jackson entrusted Ibarra, a fellow born again Christian, with the managerial and training direction of his career.[8]

Jackson then earned wins over Hirotaka Yokoi and Yoon Dong-Sik before leaving the Pride organization.

After Pride

On May 16, 2006, the World Fighting Alliance announced it had signed Jackson to a multi-fight deal. He defeated Matt Lindland in by split decision at WFA: King of the Streets on July 22, 2006. "He is a good fighter," Jackson said. "I trained hard. He is an Olympic silver medalist. So much respect to him. I knew I had to bring it." The match turned out to be a tough one for the Memphis native who got caught in guillotine choke holds twice. "Rampage" managed to get out both times, and slammed Lindland a few times before cutting the bridge of his nose with ground and pound on his way to the win.

Acting career

Jackson has appeared in Confessions of a Pit Fighter, Bad Guys and The Midnight Meat Train, as well as an episode of The King of Queens and Pimp My Ride. He is also set to appear in Never Surrender, Duel of Legends, Death Warrior, and Miss March.

Personal life

A well known fact is Jackson's renewed devotion to Christianity. This occurred sometime after his successful fight with Ricardo Arona (September, 2004). An article written by Sherdog's Josh Gross describes Jackson's experience: "In the middle of a late-summer night Jackson and his kindergarten-age son D’Angelo woke up to separate, though eerily similar dreams. Both were shaken, so much so that at 4 a.m. they had to get out of their apartment. To Jackson, it was a sign. 'You know how girls cry when they’re happy?' he said. 'That’s how I was. I think I felt Jesus' love. I don’t know. I automatically knew everything after I was born again.'

Jackson resides in Irvine, California and has four children: D'Angelo and Raja from previous relationships and Elijah and Naname Nakia Jackson with his wife, Yuki. All three boys have the middle name "Rampage" while Naname has just "'Page." Jackson's wife, Yuki, separated from him in 2006 after a blood test proved that he had fathered a child, Raja, with another woman in 2000. Quinton and his wife have since reconciled.

Arrest

On July 15, 2008, Jackson was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony reckless driving, and felony hit and run after striking several vehicles. He led pursuing officers on a chase while driving on the wrong side of the street and on city sidewalks in his lifted Ford F-350 with his picture painted on the side. During the chase one of the tires blew out on his truck and he continued to flee while driving on his rims and showering the street with sparks. The day before his arrest, Jackson gave an interview and said he had become depressed after his recent loss by decision to Forrest Griffin. On July 16, 2008, someone in Jackson's household flagged down police and reported that Jackson was acting unusually. Jackson was escorted to a mental health institution for observations. On July 18, 2008, UFC President Dana White gave an interview to Yahoo! Sports in which he said that Jackson had initially been detained for a 72 hour stay, but that had been extended. White was quoted as saying, "I think it's going to be a while before we get him back." White also claimed that before the detainment, Jackson did not sleep for four days and was not eating, but only drinking water and energy drinks. According to White, no drugs were found in Jackson's system.

Quinton Jackson has been charged with one felony count of evading police while driving recklessly, one felony count of evading police and driving against traffic, three misdemeanor counts of hit and run with property damage, and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving when he nearly hit several pedestrians. If convicted, Jackson could face up to 3 years in prison.

On August 28, 2008 Jackson pleaded not guilty to the above 2 felonies and 4 misdemeanors; however, on January 8, 2009 he pleaded guilty to one felony count of evading a police officer and driving against traffic and one misdemeanor count of driving recklessly as part of a plea agreement. Jackson will not be sentenced until January 7, 2010; in the meantime, he must complete 200 hours of community service, attend mental health therapy, pay restitution, and comply with other terms and conditions. Based on his compliance, the felony charges may be dropped, or Jackson may be sentenced to additional probation or jail time.

Statistics

Nickname Rampage
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st)
Reach 73 in (190 cm)[1]
Nationality American
Born June 20, 1978 (1978-06-20) (age 30)
Fighting out of Irvine, California
Town of birth Memphis, Tennessee
Team/Association Wolfslair MMA Academy
Primary fighting style Boxing, Wrestling

Mixed martial arts record

Wins 30
By knockout 14
By submission 7
Losses 7
By knockout 4
By submission 1