Jackson comes back from a real rampage

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was speaking to a reporter on his mobile phone. And he was driving.

“Please, be careful,” the reporter told him, hoping that the mixed martial arts fighter was using a hands-free device.

In July, two weeks after Jackson lost his Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight belt to current champion Forrest Griffin, Jackson was arrested in Newport Beach after leading police on a chaotic chase in his pickup that included his sideswiping two cars, driving through red lights with a blown tire, talking on his cellphone and barreling along sidewalks as pedestrians fled for cover, law enforcement authorities say.

Jackson, 30, who lives in Irvine, faces a maximum prison sentence of three years on a felony charge of evading arrest while driving recklessly and other misdemeanor counts. There is a preliminary hearing Jan. 8 in Orange County Superior Court.

The incident had tremendous fallout.

A day after his arrest, Irvine police were summoned to escort Jackson to mental-health professionals after receiving reports he might be a threat to himself and others. Jackson would later split with his longtime trainer and manager Juanito Ibarra, who now says, “I love the kid . . . but if he feels his life and career are better off without me -- wrong or right -- that’s what he feels and I have to move on.”

Jackson also faces a challenge in the ring.

On Saturday Jackson has a non-title UFC fight against his nemesis, Wanderlei Silva, in Las Vegas. Silva has already defeated Jackson twice (by technical knockout and knockout) in PRIDE Fighting Championships bouts in Japan, and questions persist whether Jackson is properly prepared.

“I could be a million percent wrong, but I think this is a bad time for him to be fighting Wanderlei,” Ibarra said.

An Orange County law enforcement official revealed that the Jackson investigation included the possibility of a negligent homicide or murder charge because a woman involved in one of the car collisions with the fighter suffered a miscarriage. “We could not find evidence to support any charge regarding the loss of that baby,” district attorney spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder said.

Although UFC President Dana White acknowledged he has never experienced a more frightening fighter than Jackson upon his jail release, the explanation for his behavior last summer is that Jackson was reeling because he hadn’t eaten in days and had overused energy drinks.

Jackson (28-7, 20 knockouts/submissions) told reporters this month that he didn’t want to dredge up thoughts about the incidents.

“My head is straight, I don’t care to talk about it,” he said. “This is my job. I get paid to fight. . . . Yeah, I’m going through some stuff, but I’ve always had something going on in my life around fights. I look at it like [winning] could be a big accomplishment, or it could be a lesson learned. And if it’s a lesson, I still have time to learn. I’m not that old.”

Silva arrives again as Jackson’s opponent at a favorable time.

In 2003, Silva had the good fortune of facing Jackson on the same night after “Rampage” had produced a stirring but tiring victory over UFC’s Chuck Liddell in the PRIDE middleweight grand prix. Silva won his bout over Jackson by first-round TKO. The pair faced off again on Halloween in 2004 and Silva ended the bout with a flurry of knees to the head in the second round.

“I’ve won two times, but this is a different time. I’m training so hard. I’m living 24 hours a day for this match,” Silva said.

The winner is likely to land a fight against whomever prevails in Saturday’s Griffin-Rashad Evans light-heavyweight championship meeting, and Jackson says he’s driven to regain the title he impressively earned with a first-round knockout of Liddell in 2007.

After dumping Ibarra, Jackson relocated his training camp to a site in England used by middleweight Michael Bisping. Jackson spent six weeks there, praising the camp for his new focus on devotion to training, nutrition, supplement use and specialized sparring with athletes disciplined in all of MMA’s skills.

“The last time I fought Wanderlei I was young to the sport,” Jackson said. “I did Thai sparring with jiujitsu guys, I didn’t have the right coaching staff. It wasn’t right. Now, I have better coaching, a top-notch nutritionist. I’m real excited about how my body feels.”

During the conference call, Jackson appeared to be referring to Ibarra when he said, “I got rid of some old baggage.”

Told that, Ibarra said he won’t bring himself to watch the fight.

“There’s no vengeance in my heart, but it still hurts,” he said. “I love the kid, and I just want him to know he’s still got my number. He can call any time.”

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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UFC 92

Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas.

When: Saturday.

TV: Pay-per-view.

Information: ufc.com