Tim Sylvia, Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, Dana White and Marc Ratner comment on Rampage Jackson situation
By: Mike Trask
In a chat with the Las Vegas Sun today UFC Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner, said the company was “still gathering information” on Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s strange behavior over the past several days.
In the two days since the 30-year-old fighter was arrested following a hit and run accident in California the UFC has been virtually mum. However, several media outlets reported that UFC President Dana White flew to California to bail out the former champ.
And while in the “Golden State” White was interviewed by a radio station called KLOS. Here’s what he had to say via Yahoo!Sports.com:
“I’m actually here right now, I’m in Southern California. I’ve been dealing with this all day yesterday, I haven’t really gotten to the bottom of this yet. I don’t know what I’m going to do about it yet. Last night when he got out, Rampage is very religious … yeah I’m dealing with it…. It’s not really about a fine. At the end of the day, we care about these guys. A lot of these guys are our friends. I want to find out what’s wrong with Rampage and get him taken care of.”
A day after the arrest (and White’s interview), Jackson was involved in another situation with police that led to him being taken to see mental health professionals.
UFC.com has no mention of the arrest.
In addition, in an ESPN.com chat today Tim Sylvia fielded a question about the recent legal problems encountered by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Both Sylvia and Jackson are former UFC champions.
“I feel for Rampage. I’ve been there. Unfortunately, he’s handled it differently than others have. My heart goes out to him. I wish I could go and take him and bring him to Iowa and help settle him down. He’s a friend
of mine.”
Sylvia also spoke about his training and preparation for his Saturday fight with Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: “Banned.”
Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell, also weighed in on the topic in a recent TMZ.com interview. Jackson defeated Liddell to capture the 205-pound crown.
Here are his thoughts:
“I know Rampage in and out of the ring. He is a great showman in the ring and a smart level-leaded businessman outside of it. I am shocked over this. It’s really out of character for him. I don’t know all the details on what happened, but i just hope everyone involved is ok.”
Finally, his good friend and training partner, Michael Bisping, also shared his thoughts via The Sun on the bizarre string of events that have transpired in the last 48 hours.
Here’s what “The Count” had to say:
“I’m reeling in shock after hearing about Rampage. I’m devastated for him. It’s not like Rampage. He’s a good guy, he’s a law-abiding citizen. I’m very, very concerned for him. He’s a very close friend and this certainly doesn’t sound like him. I’m concerned about what’s going on…. If you lose a fight you’re always very upset but Rampage is experienced — it’s not the first time he’s lost a fight -– he’s been on the scene a long time. Initially he was disappointed at losing but he seemed to take it all in good spirits. I spoke to him last Thursday before I flew back to England and he seemed fine -– the same old Rampage — so I’m shocked and concerned.”
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68 Comments »
I guess it can make for a good come back story.
Hmmm, not sure what really 2 make of all this ….
guess some of forest’s punches landed harder than we thought…
Yeah, your like the tenth guy to say that.
I’m starting to think this has nothing to do with the loss to Forrest or the belt, I think he might be having other personal issues. It’s like Bisping said, Rampage is just too experienced and has lost major battles in the past (the grand prix in Pride and a title shot as well). He never had a belt before in a major organization, but he’s come close and have been known throughout the MMA community for a long time. Something else is up within his personal life for him to be going mental like this.
THats whatI think as well Linx. he has been through the ups and downs of an mma career, and I have a hard time believeing that all this is a direct result of a loss via decision.
Regardless, hope he gets his life together, and I look forward to the day when he is back to competingi n the Octagon!
Right there with you Linx
Wher is Juanito in all of this. I’m surprised we have not heard anything from him.
A little lesson in Psychology.
I’ve been reading all the posts about Rampage and a bit disappointed in the far out speculation, the worse being getting hit harder than they thought from Forrest.
Depression is a result of trigger events. A person can sustain certain amount of trigger events, dependant on their upbringing. A persons mental strength is determined growing up.
Rampage may have flipped after losing the UFC crown but this may have merely been a triggering event, god knows how many he has had before. IT IS CERTAINLY NOT THE CAUSE OF HIS DEPRESSION if that is what’s going on with him.
Whatever it is, I hope he makes a full recovery
Looks like bispiing is shocked and concerned, ….just like the rest of the world.
curse of the nicknames look at this
Karo THE HEAT parisyan NOTICE in past 2 years he has become heated and hot temperd and bitter
Diego NIGHTMARE sanchez NOTICE 2 losses in a row was a nightmare for him
George st RUSH pierre NOTICE he rushed in to soon when he became champ first time and he ran in to serra first time
Mike QUICK swick NOTICE his popularity is quickly going down
Josh THE PEOPLES WARRIOR burkman NOTICE Do ppl CARE!!!
Joe DIESEL riggs NOTICE everytime his making it big he gets DIESLED
same for rampage and i cant wait till he gets better so chuck can kick his ass in a rematch
FYI: THE HEAT and DIESEL are my fav nicknames YAAAY and nightmare isnt bad
That has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Complete, garbage.
Exactly, complete and UTTER garbage.
very disapointed with this one aswell.
horrible post man.
just horrible!
I think you guys just showed garbage some major dissrespect!
Rubbish….totally!!
Go see a doctor
Dan you have too much time on your hands…….
Wow, this is the worst comment I have seen on here. Period.
I second that motion. THAT WAS BAD!
u never know what goes inside a persons head, maybe his open emotional way of doing just turned against him on a unlucky moment.
How can you be devastated for someone?
A lot of athletes have handlers, that keep them in line, keep them focused. Rampage could have had some serious mental issues that might not have popped up because of how he was constantly around people that would steer him in the right direction. But between the pressure, stress, and ego of being a publicly loved figure, he might have had a mental fold.
Look at amazing athletes like TO.. guy had a couple of hard breakdowns and tried to suck down some pills. I really feel for these guys… they go through more stress and over attention then anyone. Hope he gets worked out and stable.
Props to dana for flying right out there
Does anyone know a really good MMA video site.
mmascraps.com and myvideofight.com are both excellent sites.
Thanks
mmatko.com is the absolute fastest
also try mmalinker that is a good place to see ppv fights free shortly after they air, not that i do that. also channel surfing.net carried the last ufc live for free, again, not that i would do that
That radio show doesn’t know shit from MMA, and their call-in contestants didn’t know squat about the shit…. lame.
Ok, back to Rampage, he obviously has a disorder, question is will he be diagnosed correctly, that’s the most difficult part. They need to run through a few physical and psychological tests, if it’s done right, we’ll probably hear something in a week or two””
However, if he’s off subscribe medicine for a previously diagnosed disorder, that would make the most sense.
no i dont think he’d be cleared to fight if he was on something he needed to keep him sane and why would he get off it if he just lost the title that would be stupid! id say he just had a breakdown! if you remember after his second loss to wandy in japan he wasnt the same fighter. he was depressed. he was lackluster. he was a shadow of himself fighting shogun and ninja. that was a title shot! he had the title this time and was the best at 205 in the world and he fell off the top! he got hit hard and that the only way i see it!
he might have been on meds but if it was serios he wouldnt be cleared to fight! and if he came off em after loosing the title it would be dumb! that wouldnt be something to do
HEAT, Many athletes and people get off prescribed medicine because of the side effects. Makes them sluggish… This may not be something he dislosed to Officials. Mike Tyson use to get off his medication before he fought… remember?
Don’t confuse dumb with a mental disorder, lots of people get off their medication for one reason or another, very typical.
I suspect it’s a mental disorder because of the connection he seems to have with God. That’s often typical of a disorder such as bipolor OR even Thyroid disorder. My name is Thorazine for a reason… BA in Psych..lol. I could be wrong, but it just doesn’t sound ‘just’ like a nervous breakdown… however, that loss triggered the disorder
ye it might not be a complete breakdown but its definatly brought on from depression! but i cant see him taking meds that would make him sluggish that would be out of the question and gettin off medication after you loose your title! surely if he needs to come off he would come off for the fight but after a loss would you ditch your meds? maybe he did!
like i said he suffered mentally after his loss to wandy but look at him now its far worse
Hey guy’s, First off i am not a big rampage fan but I do suffer from some mental issues that I do take perscribed meds for and for the most part all is well. But I have seen more and more fighters being suspended for perscribed meds. I hope this is not an instince where he may be on meds and then stopped taking them so that they would not interfer with the drug tests before or after the fight.
If it is the case the sanctioning bodies need to look at some of the prescribed meds that some of these fighters might be on and let them continue to take them so that the fighter does’nt have to worry about them testing positive.
Just my opinion.
I agree to a point, but it really depends on what type of meds.
I agree with Anthony. I can’t see how a drug like paxil or zoloft would help a fighter, but if taken away, I could see how they would severely impair a fighter. I can’t remember who it was (maybe Diaz) but someone was not able to take a fight due to his ADD medication. Shit like that is just stupid. It is not like the guy has a prescription for Dianabol or Winstrol. If that was the case, then I could understand.
Diaz was not able to fight because he claimed he had ADD and used medical marijuana to calm down. I think they rejected because it was marijuana, but you’re right, this would be the only time I’d agree for a fighter to use marijuana (if he really has a problem).
when I found out about this I was like what the ****. I watched the show and I know ppl put on a act when there on tv but Rampage seemed to real to be acting. I remember one part of a episode when he was talking about wanting to be his teams friend not just there coach. and the whole net issue. I just don’t know somethin has to be up cuz no ones that good of an actor. I can’t just see him losing a flight and being a bad sport and taking it out on ppl. mental issues or sumthing.
On the radio show dana said silva was moving to 205 whatever heppens against irvin
hey since i am on my computer and nobody knows who i am i will make racial slurs about rampage…just kidding…in my humble irrelevant opinion it sounds like rampage is bipolar, if he were he would need to be off his medication before the fight to eliminate side effects. I thought he looked to calm in the forrest fight, he pretty much took the center of the ring and fought a defensive fight
rampage is in a different place right now…it prolly just hit him that he is no longer the ufc champion it doesn’t help that the fight went to a controversial decision either…he’s prolly overwhelmed with different feelings…i just hope he gets through this and comes up on top
prolly? You can’t be serious… it’s PROBABLY!!!
UFC.com has mentioned it.
I just think us normal folks really have no idea what it is to be a huge famous celebrity fighter who is holding a belt, and then to get beat….who knows what kind of pressure he was under. Can’t blame the guy for cracking. I think he needs some help and support from friends and family. No Doctor will be able to help Rampage fully recover
*sorry 4 the caps*
RAMPAGE NEEDS TO DO WHAT DAVE CHAPPELLE DID… TAKE OFF FOR A WHILE. GET YOUR HEAD STRAIGHT AND GET AWAY FROM ALL THE MEDIA. GO TO AFRICA OR SOME TOPICAL ISLAND AND CHILL FOR LIKE 2 MONTHS OR INTILL YOUR READY TO COME BACK.
Rampage took on Irvine police and Kimbo took on miam vice
KIMBO vs Miami vice
http://www.kimbofansite.com/
He fights in a cage as a job and drives around in a monster truck for a car thats not normal,We all know he has always been a bit crazy,Looks like he has tipped over the edge now.
hey kieran maybe the only FXXXXXKING CRAZY HERE IS DUDE OK rampage got personals problems= VERY STRONG PERSONAL ISSUES. just dont derespect the guy ok ; SO RELAX;
yeah guys have some conpation for the guy
who’s dissing page?
What’s conpation?
That is the best spelling of compassion ever!
“Rampage’s very religious”, Dana says. that doesn’t sound like Rampage at all, maybe some religious freaks got him washed up.
Yea it’s just like Rampage, before his second fight with Wanderlei he had another “God has changed my life” episode. It isn’t the first time this has happened, but before it seemed like maybe it was a positive.
i guess Rampage is crazy really.
He is an intense dude so it’s not out of the question to see him get mentally rocked a bit in the past little while. A long layoff, a loss, a very short title reign, dramatic weight gain and loss. He hasn’t tasted defeat for a while and things were really coming up 7’s for this guy.
Rampage, you’re the man bro, we’re behind you, be safe dawg.
IMO, Rampage has just officially “flipped” out!
Where’s Forrest with his two cents on this. Show your character and step up with some nice words about Quinton, ya bum. Man I really had wished that Rampage had kicked his ass and knocked that fake humility right out of him. Here’s to a short title reign for Forrest and a safe and welcome come back for Rampage.
Forrest’s talent: Good at everything, great at nothing. His jokes and demeanour is getting too damn old, too damn fast.
its ok, I’m sure Chuck will get to fight him if and when he SHOULD get by Rashad….I’m betting Rampage will be out for a while, so think about a Chuck/Wanderlei rematch for a title! That would be sweet! A 5 round war, although I’m not so sure it would go 5 rounds if they were to fight again. If you think about it Wanderlei dropped Chuck once in that fight and Chuck never dropped Wanderlei, but then again he was against the cage so maybe thats why cuz he definately had him rocked.
Cool. I’d like to see Chuck get by Rashad. Rashad is another dude that has to get beat. I’m telling you right now, that undefeated record nonsense is a curse for fighters, they end up thinking about it too much. I hope Chuch gets by Rashad and then connects with a looping right on Forrest on the year end show card!! yes, how sweet it will be.
Couldn’t agree with you more. If I was Forrest I would but hunting down and interviewer so I could say something nice about Quinton. What a dick.
Forest probably knows as much about the situation as you and I (not much). So why does he have any obligation to comment on something he likely doesn’t even know much about.
naturalshadow, not sure if anyone said it but I think you are thinking of when Tim Credeur couldn’t compete against Cale Yarbrough at the Ultimate Fighter Finale because he still had ADD meds in his system. Might be wrong, but that sounded like what you were talking about.
Dana’s in a tight spot here. He has ousted guys from TUF for far less, with a nice little lecture on how their behavior does not reflect the face of the UFC. Rampage has now committed felonies in hit and run and evading police (that was part of it, right?). It would suck to loose Rampage, but Dana has to keep credibility. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Any predictions?
Imo, he won’t oust Rampage. Rampage is too big a name, has way too much fan interest, and is an all around chill dude who is one of Dana’s boys. TUF dudes don’t have the ins with Dana like a top notch player like Rampage does. Dana will try to calm down Rampage, get him some professional assistance during this trying time and get him back to the main stage if his heart is in it.
I just find it ironic that Rampage was one of the guys watching that Jesse Taylor tape on TUF and seeing him kicking the limo window and all that.
Man, I miss Rampage already, who’s with me?
Same here =*(
Rampage is probably in big trouble legally… it doesn’t matter what Dana wants to do… and all these people giving their opinion doesn’t mean SH!T. Come August 15, the only opinions that matter are that of the judge and his court. If any of these hit-n-run incidents turn into injury claims you can bet that Dana won’t have to give Rampage the boot.
I think you’re right. It will probably be a non-issue as Jackson’s fate, at least for the near future, may not be in White’s hands at all.
It does bring up another interesting facet here - Rampage’s quasi celebrity/wealth. We all know that the rich and famous get treated differently, however, Rampage is only famous within MMA circles. The judges feelings on MMA may play into their decision. If he/she feels like it is “human cock fighting” then they may see Rampage as an out-of-control huligan that needs reeling in, or if they are somewhat familiar or even a fan of MMA,they may see him as most on this board do - as a great champion with some ailment, who just needs a break and a hand to get back to normal.