Quinton Jackson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Quinton Jackson
Jackson in 2019
Born	Quinton Ramone Jackson (1978-06-20) June 20, 1978 (age 46) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Other names	Rampage
Residence	Irvine, California, U.S.
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	265 lb (120 kg; 18 st 13 lb)
Division	Heavyweight (1999–2000, 2015–present) Light heavyweight (2000–2002, 2004–2014) Middleweight (2003)
Reach	73 in (185 cm)
Fighting out of	Irvine, California, U.S.
Team	Team Oyama Team Punishment Wolfslair MMA Academy Rampage Fitness Academy Team
Trainer	Lance Gibson, Bobby Rimmer
Wrestling	CCCAA wrestling
Years active	1999–present
Kickboxing record
Total	2
Wins	2
By knockout	1
Mixed martial arts record
Total	52
Wins	38
By knockout	20
By submission	4
By decision	14
Losses	14
By knockout	4
By submission	2
By decision	7
By disqualification	1
Other information
Notable school(s)	Raleigh-Egypt High School

Quinton Ramone Jackson (born June 20, 1978), known by his ring name of Rampage Jackson, is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler. During the course of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, Jackson won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, the Bellator Season 10 Light Heavyweight Tournament Championship, and unified the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship with the Pride FC World Middleweight Championship belt. Due to his eccentric personality and aggressive fighting style, Jackson became a star in Japan during his tenure with Pride FC and following his move to the UFC, he helped pioneer MMA's growth into a worldwide sport.

Background

Jackson is from Memphis, Tennessee and had a difficult childhood. ..... Jackson had his first experience with combat sports as a wrestler for Raleigh-Egypt High School, enrolling at the school as a 17-year-old freshman, where his career included All-State honors in his senior year after finishing fifth in the state tournament at 189 pounds (86 kg). In high school Jackson also befriended fellow Bellator light heavyweight Jacob Noe, a karate practitioner who taught Jackson striking techniques, in exchange for wrestling techniques. Originally, Jackson intended to pursue a career in professional wrestling after graduating high school, but ultimately extended his amateur wrestling career at Lassen Community College in Susanville, California before being expelled after a fight with a teammate. After discovering mixed martial arts, Jackson trained in Las Vegas with BAMMA fighter Lewis Rumble.

Martial arts career

Early career

Impressed by the success of other wrestlers in MMA, Jackson decided to try his own hand at the sport. Jackson built up a record of 10 wins and 1 loss fighting for a variety of smaller scale American promotions, including King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and Dangerzone. Jackson gained a reputation for lifting his opponents and slamming them to the mat. Jackson's successful first MMA Title shot against Rocko Hammerhands Henderson proved to be the beginning of many upsets.

Pride Fighting Championships

In 2001, Japan's Pride organization marketed Jackson as a homeless person. Jackson, still a relatively unknown fighter, first 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. Jackson captivated the Japanese fans with his exciting performance and also gained their respect and admiration for his valiant effort against the much more experienced Sakuraba.

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 a low blow against Daijiro Matsui.

Jackson 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. 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. 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 at 1:55 in the first round.

Later in the year, Abidi wanted to prove that his loss to Jackson was a fluke, and faced him on the New Year's Eve Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye card, again under K-1 rules. Jackson laid a lot of criticism to rest by once again defeating Abidi, this time via decision. It would be Jackson's last kickboxing bout, as he returned to full-time MMA competition afterwards.

Rivalry with Wanderlei Silva

Around this time, Jackson began stating his intentions to capture the Pride Middleweight (205 lb/93 kg) 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. After taking Wanderlei Silva down and bloodying him, a stand-up was called by the referee and Jackson was stopped with a series of heavy knees to the head, leading to a referee stoppage.

Jackson continued his Pride career with a TKO victory over Ikuhisa Minowa at Pride Shockwave 2003. He then faced Ricardo Arona at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 with the winner to face Wanderlei Silva. Late in the first round Arona caught Jackson in a triangle choke, Jackson picked up Arona and powerbombed him into the canvas, earning the KO win.

Prior to his rematch with Silva, Jackson made headlines with the public announcement of his conversion to 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 knock out Jackson with multiple knee strikes to the head.

Final bouts with Pride

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 soccer kicks to the head

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

Jackson then defeated Hirotaka Yokoi via TKO at Pride 30. In his final fight for Pride he won a unanimous decision over Yoon Dong-Sik at Pride 31

After Pride

On May 16, 2006, the World Fighting Alliance announced it had signed Jackson to a multi-fight deal. He defeated Matt Lindland 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." He was caught in guillotine choke holds twice. Jackson 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.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On December 11, 2006, Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, announced it had acquired select assets from the World Fighting Alliance, which ceased operations as part of their sales agreement. Jackson's WFA contract was one of the assets acquired.

In an interview on the UFC program Inside the UFC, Jackson said it was finally time for him to enter the organization, and that he had not before because of his friendship with UFC fighter Tito Ortiz. Jackson said that because Ortiz was one of the biggest stars in the UFC, and that both were fighters in the same weight class, he did not want to interfere.

Jackson made his UFC debut at UFC 67, where he knocked out Marvin Eastman, avenging an early career loss.

Winning the Light Heavyweight Championship

At UFC 71 on May 26, 2007, Jackson faced UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell in a title rematch of their 2003 Pride bout. Approximately 90 seconds into the first round, Jackson caught Liddell with a right hook to the jaw that sent him down to the mat, where Jackson landed a few more clean shots on the ground before a referee stoppage at 1:53 seconds to capture the UFC Light Heavyweight title.

Jackson then defeated Pride Middleweight Champion Dan Henderson at UFC 75, on September 8, 2007, in London, England via unanimous decision to unify the two organizations' titles.

The Ultimate Fighter 7

On December 9, 2007, it was announced by Dana White at Spike TV's Video Game Awards show that Jackson will be one of the two coaches of The Ultimate Fighter 7. At the conclusion of the season, Jackson fought the other coach and number one contender Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. During the show, Jackson showed his temper after his fighters repeatedly lost to Team Forrest. Going into the semifinals, only two of Jackson's original fighters made the cut while Griffin had 6 of his fighters advance. In the finale, Team Forrest's pick, Amir Sadollah beat Team Rampage's top fighter C.B. Dollaway via armbar in the first round.

On July 5, 2008, he fought Griffin for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 86 and lost a judges' decision. In the first round of the fight Jackson delivered two solid power punches, and soon after knocked Griffin down. Jackson tagged him throughout the fight. In contrast, Griffin pushed the pace of the fight from start to finish and stayed much more aggressive than Jackson for most of the fight with multiple leg kicks and by mounting Quinton and landing elbows and punches to his head. In later rounds Jackson managed to take Griffin down twice and work his own ground game, almost executing his signature power bomb. Many took note as Jackson was showing obvious discomfort from the effects of the leg kicks. The next three rounds were described by Sherdog as "somewhat uneventful" with Jackson searching for the knockout punch while Griffin threw whatever he could with long jabs, leg and body kicks. Griffin was awarded a unanimous decision.

After the fight both Griffin and his coach Randy Couture expressed that they thought the fight was close, and Jackson's coach, Juanito Ibarra, had planned to protest the unanimous decision with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. However, after speaking with the commission about his complaint, he decided not to file because he was informed that even if the judges scores were changed to his satisfaction, the fight would still result in a victory for Griffin by a majority decision. Soon after the fight, Jackson fired his longtime trainer/manager Ibarra. There were talks of an immediate rematch after the fight.

Following the loss of his belt, Quinton was involved in a hit and run incident and a high speed police pursuit in Newport Beach, California, charges followed to which he would plead guilty.

Back to title contention

Jackson began training for his next fight at UFC 92, which would be against Wanderlei Silva, the only man to defeat Jackson twice. Jackson avenged his previous defeats by knocking Silva out with a vicious left hook in the first round. The fight was notable for some controversy surrounding the conclusion of the match, as Jackson followed Silva to the ground with another three punches before referee Yves Lavigne called the fight. Yves was unsuccessful at protecting Silva from the second and third punches.

Jackson's next fight was against Keith Jardine at UFC 96 on March 7, 2009. It was announced before the fight that if Jackson won he would fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Championship and if he lost Lyoto Machida would fight for the title instead. Jackson then won the fight by unanimous decision. Jackson was on track to get his title shot but lingering injuries kept him from fighting. Lyoto Machida received the title shot and Evans was expected to defend his belt as the main event instead; Jackson had stated he would like to fight Rashad, however, he suffered torn ligaments in his jaw that will require surgery and five weeks of no contact. Therefore, Lyoto Machida replaced Jackson, and Jackson was expected to fight the winner of the Machida vs. Evans bout, though that fight never came to fruition.

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights

Production of the tenth series of The Ultimate Fighter reality series began in June 2009 with Jackson coaching opposite former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. The season, featuring 16 heavyweight competitors including internet street fighter Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, the former IFL Heavyweight Champion Roy "Big Country" Nelson and former NFL players, made its premiere on Spike TV on September 16 with the finale scheduled for December 5.

Retirement and return

On September 22, 2009, Jackson wrote in a blog on his website that he was "done fighting", due to maltreatment by the UFC. On December 4, 2009, Jackson informed the community via his web blog that he would return to the UFC to finish his contract and wanted to fight Rashad Evans. At the UFC 107 press conference, Dana White stated that if Rashad Evans could defeat Thiago Silva at UFC 108, then a fight between Evans and Jackson would finally come to fruition.

Jackson was expected to finally face Rashad Evans at UFC 113, but the bout was scheduled for May 29, 2010, at UFC 114. UFC President Dana White had officially confirmed that the fight against Rashad Evans would determine who would challenge Maurício Rua in his first UFC Light Heavyweight Championship defense. Jackson ended up losing to Rashad Evans via unanimous decision. Jackson was tagged in the opening moments and spent the next two rounds being taken down before hurting Evans in the third, but was unable to finish him.

Return to title contention

On March 24, 2010, Dana White announced that Jackson signed a new six fight contract with the UFC. Jackson's next fight was against former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 123 on November 20, 2010. At UFC 123, Jackson met Machida in the main event. Jackson went on to win by a controversial split decision. UFC president Dana White put all doubts to rest and supported the judges' decision, saying that Jackson won the first two rounds and no rematch would be needed.

Jackson was expected to face Thiago Silva on May 28, 2011, at UFC 130. However, Silva tested positive for banned substances in his UFC 125 post fight drug test and was replaced by Matt Hamill. Jackson put on a dominant display, easily defending the decorated wrestler's takedowns and winning the striking exchanges. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Second title shot

Jackson faced Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on September 24, 2011, at UFC 135. Jackson lost by submission in the fourth round after Jones applied a rear-naked choke. The loss marks the first time Jackson had been finished during his run in the UFC.

Post-title shot

Jackson faced Ryan Bader on February 26, 2012, at UFC 144. Jackson missed the light heavyweight weight allowance of 206 lbs by 5 lbs; weighing in at 211 lbs for UFC 144. He cited a training injury that prevented him from doing road work. Bader accepted the fight at catchweight and received 20% of Jackson's purse. Jackson lost the fight via unanimous decision; it was the first time he had suffered two consecutive losses. Following the match Jackson tweeted that he was leaving the UFC after his loss to Bader. He was planning to face former Pride rival, Shogun Rua as his last UFC fight, but opted to have double knee surgery.

Jackson was expected to face Glover Teixeira on October 13, 2012, at UFC 153. However, Jackson pulled out of the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Fábio Maldonado.

Jackson fought Teixeira and lost by unanimous decision on January 26, 2013, at UFC on Fox 6.

Bellator MMA

On June 4, 2013, it was announced Jackson had signed multi-year deal with the partnership of Spike TV, Bellator MMA and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. During a press conference he stated that he might move up to the heavyweight division.

Jackson was expected to face former training partner and fellow former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz on November 2 at Bellator 106. However, on October 25, Bellator announced Ortiz suffered a neck injury and had to pull out of his fight with Jackson.

Jackson made his Bellator debut on November 15, 2013, at Bellator 108 where he faced Joey Beltran. He won via knockout in round 1 after dropping Beltran with a left-right hook combination and following up with another right hand on the ground, stopping the action with 1 second left in the round.

Jackson next faced former Bellator Champion Christian M'Pumbu on February 28, 2014, in the Season 10 Light Heavyweight Tournament at Bellator 110 in the semifinals. He won via knockout in the first round.

Jackson faced Muhammed Lawal in the tournament final for a title shot on May 17, 2014, at Bellator 120. He won the fight via unanimous decision. After the fight Mississippi Athletic Commission fined Jackson $10,000 due to his shove at Lawal during the pre-fight weigh-in staredown. According to head of MAC Jon Lewis, he was about to pull Jackson out of the fight for insulting him due to the issued fine.

Return to the UFC

On December 20, 2014, during the main card broadcast of UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway, it was announced that Jackson had signed a new deal to return to the UFC. Scott Coker, Bellator's president, alleged that Jackson was still under contract with Bellator and they would pursue legal process to ensure that. Jackson claimed that Bellator did not honor his contract and that's the reason he signed with the UFC.

Jackson was scheduled to face Fábio Maldonado on April 25, 2015, at UFC 186. However, on April 7, Jackson was removed from the card after his most recent employer Bellator MMA was granted an injunction by a New Jersey Superior Court judge preventing him from competing for the UFC after it was alleged that he breached a deal signed in June 2013. On April 21, a judge in the Superior Court of New Jersey's Appellate Division overturned the injunction against Jackson, allowing him to compete for the UFC. The bout took place at a catchweight of 215 lbs. Jackson won the fight by unanimous decision.

Return to Bellator MMA

Following his lone fight for Zuffa, it was announced on February 16, 2016, that Jackson had settled the contractual disputes with Bellator MMA and would be returning to the promotion. During this time at Bellator, Jackson brought on the expertise of celebrity sports nutritionist Edwina Cheer to advise him on all aspects of nutrition on fight preparation and leading up to, and including, the weight cut. Known for his particular eating habits, Jackson thanked Cheer, stating "I know I'm hard to deal with".

Jackson fought Satoshi Ishii on June 24, 2016, at Bellator 157. He won via split decision.

Jackson faced Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 175 on March 31, 2017. The fight was a rematch from their first fight at Bellator's inaugural pay-per-view, Bellator 120, which Jackson won via decision. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

On November 9, 2017, Jackson re-signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator.

Jackson faced Chael Sonnen in the quarterfinals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament on January 20, 2018, at Bellator 192. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

On June 25, 2018, it was announced that Jackson would fight Wanderlei Silva in a rematch on September 29 at Bellator 206. He won the fight via technical knockout in round two.

On October 9, 2019, Bellator MMA announced that Jackson would face Fedor Emelianenko on December 29, 2019, at a Bellator and Rizin co-produced event in Japan. Jackson lost the bout via first round knockout. The bout marked the last fight of his contract with Bellator, who opted not to re-sign Jackson, making him a free agent.

Fight Circus

On April 2, 2023, Jackson competed in the main event of Fight Circus 6: The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa of the Thailand-based promotion Fight Circus in a two-on-two boxing match, teaming up with Bob Sapp against Jon Nutt and a man named Woody. Jackson and Sapp won by third-round TKO.

Boxing match against Shannon Briggs

On January 31, 2024, Jackson announced that he had signed a contract to box former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs. The boxing match against Briggs will occur on June 1 in Qatar.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment (2010)

Jackson appeared on an episode of WWE Raw on June 7, 2010. He was a special guest host alongside co-stars Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley to promote The A-Team.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2013–2014)

Jackson made his TNA debut on the June 6, 2013 episode of Impact Wrestling, getting into a verbal confrontation with Kurt Angle. The following week, Jackson saved Angle from an attack from the villainous Aces & Eights stable. Jackson returned on the July 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, being revealed as the fifth member of New Main Event Mafia along with Angle, Magnus, Samoa Joe, and Sting. On July 18, during the Destination X episode of Impact Wrestling, the Main Event Mafia achieved their goal of getting the TNA World Heavyweight Championship off of Bully Ray and out of Aces & Eights' hands after stopping them from interfering in Ray's match with Chris Sabin. After Angle took a leave of absence in August, Jackson attempted to recruit his Bellator 106 opponent Tito Ortiz to sub for him. Ortiz later attacked Jackson by hitting him in the head with a hammer, which helped Bully Ray regain the World Heavyweight Championship and go on to join Aces & Eights. Jackson made his in-ring debut in a five-on-five tag team match on the August 22 episode of Impact Wrestling; The Main Event Mafia (Jackson, Magnus, Joe, and Sting) and A.J. Styles defeated Aces & Eights after Styles pinned Devon for the win, forcing him out of TNA in the process. On September 12 at No Surrender, it was announced that Bellator MMA had pulled Jackson from TNA programming due to his upcoming PPV fight with Ortiz, thus removing him from the Main Event Mafia.

On July 31, 2014, in an interview with The Fight Nerd, Jackson stated that he was done with TNA after he saw their operations and how "they ran things". TNA has since moved his profile to the alumni section and doing so confirming his departure from the company.

Championships and accomplishments

• Bellator MMA
  • Bellator Season 10 Light Heavyweight Tournament Championship
• Pride Fighting Championships
  • 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix (Runner-up)
• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)
    • One successful title defense
    • Unified the UFC Light Heavyweight and Pride World Middleweight Championships
  • Fight of the Night (Three times) vs. Forrest Griffin, Keith Jardine, Jon Jones
    • 2008 Fight of the Year vs. Forrest Griffin
  • Knockout of the Night (Two times) vs. Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva
  • 2007 Fighter of the Year
• King of the Cage
  • KOTC Light Heavyweight Superfight Championship (One time)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • 2004 Fight of the Year vs. Wanderlei Silva on October 31
  • 2008 Fight of the Year vs. Forrest Griffin on July 5
  • 2007 Most Outstanding Fighter
• Sherdog
  • 2007 Fighter of the Year
  • Mixed Martial Arts Hall of Fame

Mixed martial arts record

Fight Circus record

Pay-per-view bouts

Acting career

..... He starred in the films The A-Team, Never Surrender, Duel of Legends, and Death Warrior. Jackson also appeared in the Nike commercial, "Human Chain".

Film and television credits

Personal life

Jackson resides in Ladera Ranch and has five children. Three of his children have the middle name of Rampage. Jackson and his wife, with whom he has two children, separated in 2006 after a paternity test proved that he had fathered a child with another woman in 2000. They have since divorced. Jackson fathered a second daughter born on October 2, 2023. Her name is Serenity Paige Jackson. In 2010, Jackson lived in Merseyside in England. He is an avid gamer, and streams in his free time on the streaming site Twitch.

See also

In Spanish: Quinton Jackson para niños

• List of male mixed martial artists