Rampage: ‘I don’t understand why Scott Coker is so butthurt’
Rampage: “I don’t understand why Scott Coker is so butthurt … I did the deal with Viacom and it goes higher than Bjorn Rebney or Scott Coker.”
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson recently spoke with The Voice on The Octagon Bruce Buffer on the “It’s Time” podcast. Jackson of course just re-signed with the UFC, while Bellator claims he remains under contract with them.
“You can’t make everybody happy,” said Jackson accurately, as transcribed by David St. Martin for MMAFighting.
“I learned that the hard way when I knocked out Chuck Liddell (at UFC 77 in 2007) and everybody was booing. Wow, that never happened to me. I was coming from Japan where I never had a crowd boo me in my life. It changed me and changed the way I looked at the fans, that day. I used to be a big time fan friendly guy until that day. You fight for the fans. Don’t let them control your life.”
Jackson is now unhappy with Bellator, but he acknowledges he was also unhappy with the UFC when he left in June of 2013.
“I was really upset with the UFC,” said Jackson. “Not everybody in the UFC. It was just the way I felt, like I should get more respect for the things I brought to the table and how I approach every fight.
“I’m not going to lie. I was real salty when I left UFC. I didn’t like a couple of things that Dana said when I fought injured. I took it to heart because I felt like I was trying to save the relationship with UFC and Dana by fighting injured and not pulling out of the fight when I was fighting in Japan (at UFC 144).”
Jackson spoke glowingly about former Bellator founder and then president Bjorn Rebney when he left the UFC.
Me and Bellator, we tongue kissing right now, baby,” he told CagePotato at the time. “I see me being happy with these guys for the rest of my career. Because, you know what I’m saying, I can just feel it… I’ve done a lot of favors for the UFC, and sometimes, I didn’t get my favors back to me.
Now, no more tongue kissing.
“I thought he was a different person,” said Jackson of Rebney. “I cut all ties as soon as I found out the guy was full of s—. My manager talked to him every day and I couldn’t believe it. I have no relationship with him.”
“I don’t understand why Scott Coker is so butthurt over this whole thing. He came into a really bad problem, but I think he tried to handle it wrong. I did the deal with Viacom and it goes higher than Bjorn Rebney or Scott Coker and that’s what I’m learning now.
“Scott Coker was brought in the clean up the mess somebody else made. He just handled my mess wrong. I’m a little bit different than those other fighters. I came over first, then Tito Ortiz came, then Stephan ‘boner’ came. I was trying to build up the organization. They should have been like, ‘Let’s keep Rampage happy.’ Instead, they tried to manipulate me. I’m not with this s—.”
The one figure in the drama who emerges uninsulted ever is ZUFFA CEO Lorenzo Fertitta.
“I just got me a Dodge Hellcat a couple days ago,” said Jackson. “I want to give a big shoutout to Lorenzo Fertitta for this Hellcat. Thank you, sir. Lorenzo has always been cool.”