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Template:MMAstatsbox Quinton Ramone "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20 1978) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter who rose to prominence with his fights in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships. He is the current reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and he was the first to unify the UFC and PRIDE championships of the same weight class, winning both 205 lb/93 kg titles. He has a professional record of 28 wins with 6 losses. MMAWeekly.com ranks Jackson as the number two Light Heavyweight in the world behind Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Outside the ring, he is known for his humor and colorful personality.

He has wins over: Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Arona, Igor Vovchanchyn, Matt Lindland, Dan Henderson and Chuck Liddell.

Mixed martial arts career

PRIDE Fighting Championships

It was in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships (PRIDE) 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 Kazushi Sakuraba, who was at that time PRIDE's most prominent domestic fighter. He 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 besting pro-wrestler Alexander Otsuka in a fight for the Battlarts promotion, Jackson was invited back for PRIDE 17 where he scored a KO 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.

Around this time, Jackson began stating his intentions to capture the PRIDE Middleweight Title from Wanderlei Silva. In the opening round of the PRIDE 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix, Jackson won a split decision over Murilo Bustamante. Three months later, Jackson defeated UFC fighter Chuck Liddell in the semi-finals of 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. After taking Silva down and bloodying him, a stand-up was called by the referee and Jackson was TKO'd with a series of knees to the head.

Jackson continued his PRIDE career with victories over Ikuhisa Minowa and Ricardo Arona, the latter bout being notable for the devastating, fight-ending slam by which Jackson rendered Arona unconscious. The bout also served as an eliminator to determine the top contender for Wanderlei Silva's title.

Prior to his rematch with Silva, the notoriously brash Jackson made some headlines with the public announcement of his conversion to born again Christianity. In the fight itself, Jackson floored Wanderlei 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 Wanderlei escaped to his feet and proceeded to knock out Jackson with knee strikes to the head for the second time.

Jackson's next two bouts would be against Silva's Chute Boxe training camp partners. He won a split decision over Murilo Rua, but fell to Rua's younger brother Mauricio "Shogun" Rua via TKO in the elimination series of the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, where Rua broke one of Jackson's ribs early 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.

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

PENIS

On May 16 2006, the World Fighting Alliance announced it had signed Jackson to a multi-fight deal. He defeated Matt Lindland in a controversial split decision at WFA: King of the Streets on July 22, 2006. "He is a good fighter," Rampage 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, Tenn., native who got caught in a choke hold 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.

UFC career

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 didn't want to interfere.

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

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, whereupon Jackson pummeled him for a referee stoppage at 1:53 seconds to capture the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Jackson then defeated PRIDE Middleweight Champion Dan Henderson at UFC 75, on September 7, 2007 in London, England, via unanimous decision to unify the two organizations' titles.

Kickboxing career

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. 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. It would be Jackson's last foray with kickboxing, as he returned to full-time MMA competition after his second win over Abidi.

MMA record

Personal life

Outside of the ring, Jackson enjoys playing video games and listening to music; Jackson recorded some rap songs before his conversion to Christianity (see below), but he has since expressed interest in redoing the tracks before releasing them, as the original recordings have explicit language that Jackson no longer wishes to be associated with.

Also well known is Quinton's change to born-again Christianity. This apparently 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, CA with four children: D'Angelo, Raja, Elijah and Naname Nakia Jackson. 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 Jackson also occasionally appears in films, including the upcoming Confessions of a Pit Fighter.

References

1. UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson 2. Zuffa (May 26, 2007). {{cite AV media}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |media= ignored (help) "He's the funniest guy in MMA." —Joe Rogan
2. Olson, Derek (September 6, 2007). "[Get in the Cage!]". OC Weekly. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. Hunt, Loretta (December 11, 2006). "UFC On A "Rampage," Acquires WFA Contracts, Trademark Assets". The Fight Network. Retrieved 2006-12-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. http://boxing.nv.gov/2007%20Results/05-26-07%20MMA.pdf
5. Gross, Josh (February 18, 2005). "Quinton Jackson: Changed In and Out of the Ring". Sherdog. Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. Pugmire, Lance (February 2, 2007). "". The Los Angeles Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

• Yu, Al (May 28, 2007). ""Rampage" Makes His Mark". MMA Weekly. Retrieved 2007-06-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Official Site
• Template:Myspace
• Professional MMA record for Quinton Jackson from Sherdog
• PRIDE Profile
• 2007 interview

Template:Championshiptitle Template:Championshiptitle

• Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from September 2007
• American Christians
• American mixed martial artists
• Living people
• UFC champions