“Rampage” Jackson: Back to normal?
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He’s been such a joke-cracking, good-natured public figure, raising his kids as a single father in Irvine, one of the most surprising meltdowns of 2008 was Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s wild car chase through Costa Mesa and Newport Beach this summer.
Jackson, 30, has a Jan. 8 court date as he faces felony evading arrest and other counts related to his dangerous drive through red lights and along sidewalks.
But on Saturday night, Jackson returned to what he does best: mixed martial arts. And before a capacity crowd of more than 15,000 fans in Las Vegas with a pay-per-view audience looking on, Jackson rebounded impressively from his UFC light-heavyweight title decision loss to Forrest Griffin on July 5 by knocking out rival Wanderlei Silva in the first round. Silva had knocked out Jackson twice previously in PRIDE Fighting Championship bouts.
‘You have no idea, this was a big mental fight for me,’ Jackson said in the news conference after the fight. ‘I’ve never been so nervous.’
Jackson revealed his personal life is a roller coaster. ‘I always have problems,’ he said. ‘I try to keep them on the down-low. This time, everyone knew.’
The details of the car chase -- that Jackson talked on his cell phone as he weaved off the road and later was considered a threat to himself and others -- remain a mystery. What truly provoked it? An overdose of energy drinks, as UFC President Dana White explains?
Doubts and questions persist but Jackson was back to his jovial public self after battering Silva with a stiff left hook. He spoke French when a female reporter questioned French heavyweight Cheick Kongo, laughing and cracking up even the defeated heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
I asked Jackson if he needed a performance like this to prove to everyone that he wasn’t fraying, mentally and physically. His knockout-of-the-night bonus made his guaranteed pay to be $385,000.
‘This is my job, I don’t need to prove anything,’ he said. ‘I like to be private. In my job, it’s just hard to be private.
‘Victory means I knocked someone out, that I got paid, and that I’ll be able to get it to my kids.’
-- Lance Pugmire
