The Mercurial MMA Champ Gets Swinging Mad About His Ultimate Fighter Protégés, Rude Fans, and Conversations about His Arrest Last Year
“I actually hated coaching. The job f**king sucked. And they better not ask me to do it again. It’s just f**king too much,” says Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in Playboy’s December 20Q when asked about his role on the reality series The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights (issue on newsstands and online at www.playboydigital.com Friday, November 13). “I’ve got kids I didn’t see, and I’d bust out crying whenever I looked at their picture. And I ain’t gonna lie – the pay f**king sucked for how much work I did.”
While the former wrestler and UFC champion recently announced his retirement from the octagon, Jackson’s candid conversation with Playboy contributor Jason Buhrmester proves he’s still got plenty of fight in him. Following are selected quotes from the interview:
On motivating his fighters: “Some guys you slap and they get motivated. Some guys you’ve got to tell them, ‘Do you want me to change your tampon?’ You’ve got all different types of personalities.”
On the first time he punched someone in the face: “My mom said I’ve been fighting my whole life. But the first time I punched somebody in the face who wasn’t a family member was in kindergarten. I let this kid borrow one of my Hot Wheels, and he broke it, so I decided to break my foot off in his ass. I’ve been in so many fights it just seems natural.”
On who first gave him the nickname Rampage: “I got the nickname from my cousin when I was eight years old. I had a bad temper. When I would lose my temper my family thought it was amusing because I used to huff and hyperventilate. It was bad. … When I was around 15, I tattooed it on my arm myself.”
On his role in the upcoming remake of The A-Team, the movie that caused him to quit the UFC: “I can’t talk too much about it. I’m doing it now that I’ve finished this reality show. … I used to bond with my father watching The A-Team as a kid. My dad and I are still big fans of the show, so I am basically doing this for the childhood memories.”
On growing up in Memphis: “I kind of did the street life for a bit, so I learned a lot. But you know, growing up in the streets I learned not to be like the guys I followed, which turned out to be pretty good for me. Those guys, they didn’t end up doing too much. They’re still living at home with their mamas.”
On Kimbo Slice’s chances in the UFC: “Kimbo has a lot of learning to do, but he’s willing to do it. He’s learned so quickly that I think he’s got a bright future in the UFC if he keeps progressing.”
On making the switch from wrestling to mixed martial arts: “I met one of my favorite wrestlers at a hotel when I was wrestling in the state championships. I can’t say who it was, but I asked him for an autograph, and he was kind of rude to me. Then I saw him signing another kid’s autograph as he was leaving, so that killed my dream of becoming a pro wrestler. I didn’t want to have nothing to do with it.”
On his time in Japan: “I like people watching there. They dress so funny. I just like to watch them. It’s like watching a bunch of living robots.”
On his arrest last year on felony hit-and-run charges: “A lady tried to sue me and say she had a miscarriage because of the accident, but the DA said it had nothing to do with the miscarriage. Anyway, that’s old news.”
On the hardest punch he’s ever thrown: “That was in my fight last December when I knocked out Wanderlei Silva. … It was very technical. I think that was the hardest punch I’ve ever thrown. He was out before he hit the ground. … I connected and did everything exactly right. I just felt like butter.”
On his fans: “Some people are just rude. People poke me, run up to me and say weird things. … Yesterday some guy grabbed me and spun me around. I thought it was one of my friends. He asked, ‘Are you Rampage?’ I told him, ‘Hey, look, dude, just don’t touch people, man.”
To read the entire interview click here.
