‘Rampage’ Jackson Reveals He Isn’t Much of an MMA Fan

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson says his passion for mixed martial arts isn’t what it used to be.

Jackson who fights under the Bellator MMA banner, is scheduled to face Wanderlai Silva for the fourth time on Sept. 29. The pair already competed twice in the now defunct Pride Fighting Championships, where the Brazilian was at the height of his powers, handing Jackson two vicious beatings in 2003 and 2004. Their sole meeting inside the UFC’s Octagon saw Jackson return the favour, handing Silva a brutal knockout in the opening round including -- what Silva believes -- an unnecessary punch after he was knocked out.

“Rampage” last competed in January against another former UFC veteran in Chael Sonnen as part of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix. Jackson lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Silva’s last fight was also against Sonnen in June last year at Bellator 180 and was the headliner for Bellator’s first foray into the state of New York . “The Axe Murderer” also lost the fight to Sonnen by a unanimous decision.

Jackson talked to MMAJunkie.com in the lead up to the fight with Silva, and the 40 year-old revealed he isn’t much of a fan of MMA these days:

“I’ll be honest, I don’t follow Wanderlei’s career. I didn’t even remember that he was banned from the sport until you brought it up. I forgot about it. I heard something on the news, but -- it’s sad to say, but I’m not a huge MMA fan anymore. I don’t really watch it that much anymore. So a lot of stuff goes on that goes past me that I don’t know about. You’ve got to respect other fighters, because we do what not many human beings do. Coming into this sport, I was a big fan of Wanderlei Silva because of his fighting style, and you’ve got to respect him for that -- no matter what he does in sports and life, getting banned for whatever he got banned for. I couldn’t care less. None of that’s going to matter to me when I get in the cage with him.”