TORONTO - Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Quinton (Rampage) Jackson, who has been at odds with the UFC recently over his fledgling film career, says he is finished fighting.
The 31-year-old mixed martial arts star announced his plans in a blog entry titled "I'm Done Fighting ..." that lifts the curtain on his behind-the-scenes negotiations in the UFC, painting the picture of a fighter whose strings were constantly being pulled by UFC president Dana White.
Jackson (30-7) was due to meet Rashad Evans at UFC 107 on Dec. 12 in his hometown of Memphis. But he pulled the plug on the main event fight in order to take on the role of B.A. Baracus in the movie version of "The A-Team" filming in Vancouver.
That drew fire from White at the recent UFC 103 card in Dallas.
White said Jackson was sacrificing "a lot of money" to take the movie over the fight, adding the fighter's withdrawal had played havoc with the UFC's schedule.
"You have no idea how much collateral damage was done by him pulling out of this thing," White told reporters. "It really screwed up the rest of the year."
Asked whether there was anything contractually that could be done to prevent fighters from backing out of fights in the future, White replied: "Can't fix stupid, man."
White was especially upset, having rushed to Jackson's defence when the fighter got in trouble with the law after losing his title in July 2008.
White said he was so upset with Jackson in the wake of the Memphis pullout that he had stopped talking to him, although the two did eventually speak last week to see if they could find a solution.
It appears not. Jackson fired back with a blog entry on his website Tuesday, saying it was time to quit fighting and start a new career.
"I'm not like (46-year-old) Randy Couture," he wrote. "My body has been getting so many different injuries that I won't be able to fight until my forties and neither do I want to fight that long. So I feel like my second career could be in jeopardy . . . so I'm done fighting.
"I've been getting negative reviews from the dumb-ass fans that don't pay my bills or put my kids though college. So I'm hanging it up. I'm gonna miss all my loyal fans but hopefully they'll follow me to my new career and I will gain more loyal fans along the way."
Jackson used the blog to cite his loyalty to the UFC, listing incidents where he was given no say in his career and complaining about not being given his proper due:
-- He said he was pushed into taking the title fight with Chuck Liddell (at UFC 71 in May 2007) before he felt he was ready. (Jackson won).
-- The UFC announced he was fighting Dan Henderson at UFC 75 without asking him. And then did not treat him right when he won. "I made history in becoming the first undisputed champion in MMA but was never even given the Pride belt in the cage and I was never promoted as the undisputed champ. Later Anderson Silva was."
-- The UFC did not grant him a rematch with Forrest Griffin after losing his title at UFC 86.
-- Jackson fought -- and beat -- Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 with a jaw injury.
Jackson also sheds some light on the behind-the-scenes matchmaking in the UFC.
After the Wanderlei Silva win at UFC 92, Jackson says White asked him to fight Evans on short notice. Jackson refused, saying he needed more time between bouts.
"Dana talked me into fighting Rashad anyway but Rashad refused the fight and so I had to fight (Keith) Jardine (at UFC 96) as a favour to the UFC instead of getting my belt back -- which wasn't even worth it to me financially," he said
After beating Jardine, Jackson was pressed into action to fight Evans at UFC 98 in May. The two were slated to meet at UFC 100 in July, but the fight was pushed up because Frank Mir was injured and unable to meet heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in the UFC 100 main event.
Jackson -- facing a third fight in five months -- eventually pulled out, citing the jaw problem.
"So they give Machida the fight against Rashad and they told me they want me to coach TUF season 10 against Rashad. That's why I wanted Rashad to win so bad but when Rashad got knocked out I told them I wanted to fight Machida for the belt, but Dana told me if I coach TUF against Rashad that I could fight Machida afterwards cause this was a different type of 'Ultimate Fighter' show they were doing.
"After I signed the contract Dana then changes his mind and says I have to fight Rashad and even told me what to say in the press and so my fans think I was scared to fight Machida. After all that I still never complained and I did it all."
As for reprising Mr. T's role in the movie version of "The A-Team," Jackson says he asked White to push the Memphis card back a month because the TV show had special meaning for him.
"I told him that I used to bond with my father watching the TV show as a kid when my parents where still married and it represents the memories I had with my father when we lived together. My dad became an alcoholic and addicted to drugs and we grew apart. But after my dad got his life back together, I was so proud of my dad and I told him I would always take care of him in the future and make him proud of me. My dad and I are still very big fans of the show and I am basically doing this for the childhood memories I had spending time in front of the TV with my dad.
"Dana went on the Internet and mocked me because of that and I still did nothing."
The movie also stars Bradley Cooper a Templeton (Faceman) Peck and Liam Neeson as Col. John (Hannibal) Smith.
Jackson says he has no hard feelings against the UFC but has to look after his family.
"The UFC has done a lot for me but I think I have done more for them. The UFC bought WFA (the World Fighting Alliance) to get my contract and they saved my life, so I felt loyal to them . . . I still feel the UFC is a great organization and I felt like I was very loyal to them but they didn't respect my loyalty but I wish the UFC the best. I did a lot of things for them.
"I wish no bad blood between us but I have kids and a family back in Memphis to provide for and that's all that matters to me!"
