The man they call Rampage knows his place in this world. His nickname is more than a violent action verb. It’s a life’s work.
“I fight in a cage. And they lock the door behind me,” he said. “I come to fight. So let’s fight.”
Since his rise as a mixed martial arts fighter in Japan, through a stateside world title in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has brawled his way to a place among the greatest the sport has produced.
Jackson is a pioneer, 205 pounds of fury, all tattooed arms and loud threats. He’s one of the most popular — and most compelling — fighters in MMA.
Now comes perhaps the biggest challenge of his career.
A top-billed fight in Denver on Saturday — part of the UFC 135 pay-per-view card at the Pepsi Center — pits the veteran Jackson against rising star Jon Jones, a young fighter many consider the future of the sport.
But Jackson isn’t just fighting Jones. He’s also fighting against fading away. If Jones, a technically savvy fighter with a wide arsenal, is UFC’s future, then Jackson is its past. Their timelines are overlapping.
“I’m the past and the present,” Jackson said from the MusclePharm gym, his temporary home training center in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood the past seven weeks.
“It’s taken a long time for me to get where I’m at. At the end of the day, do I care if I win or lose? No. I’m already winning by being here.”
Jackson has survived a long fighting career in America and overseas that pitted him against some of the most vicious brawlers in MMA. But the two-time champ is still fighting, and still among title contenders, though he’s a decided underdog Saturday.
The 33-year-old started in the late 1990s, taking small-circuit fights mostly in California. He went on to storm through Japan’s Pride Fighting Championship as the sport grew internationally.
Those days in MMA were like a wild frontier, back when fans watched fights on secondhand, bootleg VHS tapes. There were no media conference calls, no basic-cable TV reality shows. But Jackson was a star attraction in an underground sport emerging into the mainstream.
His fights against Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell are legendary among MMA fans. In 2007, Jackson outlasted Dan Henderson, becoming the first fighter to unify the Pride and UFC belts.
Jackson has won, and lost, some of the most memorable fights the sport has staged.
“It’s hard to beat a person with my mentality,” said Jackson (32-8), who said he has at most two years left in the game. “He’s gotta worry about losing fights, losing records. But I’ve already lost those things. I can’t lose anymore. I’ve already won.”
But MMA fans, it seems, have a short memory with Jackson, and their hopes for the 24-year-old Jones ride high. With just 14 pro fights, Jones is already being discussed among fans as an opponent for pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva in a future megafight. It’s talk UFC president Dana White would like to quiet, for now.
“Jon Jones hasn’t had enough fights,” White said. “He’s still a kid. Let him get some experience before we start talking about him fighting somebody like Anderson Silva.”
Jones (13-1) knocked out Brandon Vera a year ago after smothering him with elbows and punches, for a third-round TKO in Broomfield. In March, Jones won the light heavyweight title with a TKO of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. At 6-foot-4, Jones succeeds with an arm’s reach unrivaled in the sport. He also excels in Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai.
Jackson, meanwhile, is known as an aggressive wrestler with a verve for slamming opponents to the mat. But he admits the sport is evolving and his style is a throwback.
“The fighters have been getting better and better,” he said. “I’m still looking to knock people out. If that makes me one-dimensional, I guess so. I don’t want to have to change my style.”
Casual fans know him as the actor who played B.A. Baracus, Mr. T’s former role, in the “A-Team” movie. A burgeoning acting career became fodder for opponents and detractors to tear at Jackson’s drive.
“Unlike you, MMA is not something I do because of money,” Jones tweeted Jackson’s way in August. “It’s a way of life for me and I would never disrespect the integrity of that.”
Yet, Jackson’s biggest advantage might be his dual nature. Day to day, he’s the dad taking his kids to the Denver Zoo.
In the cage, he’s Rampage, wearing a Junkyard Dog heavy chain around his neck, a big mouth making an art of talking, and talking down an opponent.
“During a fight, I don’t even hear the noise,” Jackson said. “When the fight is over and I’m walking out of the ring and people are cheering, that’s the fun part. That’s when I’m me. That’s when I get back to myself.
“But when I fight, I’m a whole different person. That’s Rampage in the ring. He likes to fight.”
Nick Groke: 303-954-1015 or ngroke@denverpost.com
Rampaging
In a career spanning nearly 12 years, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s memorable moments are some of the most exciting — and bloody — in MMA history:
The trilogy
Three bloody bouts between Jackson and Brazil’s Wanderlei Silva were fought over five years. Silva won the first two, both in Japan. Jackson got revenge at UFC 92 in 2008, his left hook knocking Silva unconscious.
The rivalry
Jackson was undefeated in two fights against the esteemed Chuck Liddell, whose corner threw in the towel in 2003. At UFC 71 in 2007, Jackson’s barrage of punches led to a first-round knockout and helped push UFC into the mainstream.
The unification
At UFC 75 in 2007, Jackson, the defending UFC light heavyweight champ, defeated Pride champ Dan Henderson by unanimous decision to unite the UFC and Pride belts, bridging the sport’s biggest promoters.
The body slam
Jackson’s body slam of Ricardo Arona at 2004’s Pride Critical Countdown in Japan is still talked about — and still watched on YouTube.
Nick Groke, The Denver Post
