Rampage Reemerges but Legal Issues Linger
Joe Hall Aug 8, 2008
Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson (Pictures) was smiling and joking Thursday
in Minneapolis at a news conference to promote UFC 87.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion joined UFC President Dana White at the Mall of America, where Jackson made his first public comments since his July 15 arrest in Costa Mesa, Calif., on suspicion of felony evading, reckless driving and hit-and-run.
“I just wanted everybody to know I feel fine,” said Jackson, who
was cheered -- the conference was open to the public -- when he
stepped up to the microphone. “Everybody goes through a little
something. UFC’s got my back. I’m doing good.”
In July, Jackson led police on a chase during which the fighter weaved his truck in and out of traffic while driving on a flat tire and talking on his cell phone, according to the Costa Mesa police department. He drove through red lights and onto the sidewalk on multiple occasions, “causing pedestrians to flee in terror,” police said.
But Rampage seemed closer to his lighthearted self on Thursday in Minneapolis. At one point someone shouted a not-so-serious question asking where the party was. Jackson elicited laughs when he turned and passed the inquiry to White: “Hey, Dana, where the party at?”
White laughed, too, then moved to the microphone.
“I’ll explain real quickly what happened to Rampage Jackson,” White said in a more businesslike manner. “Rampage lost the fight to Forrest Griffin (Pictures). He hung out in Vegas for a week. He was hanging out by the pool and he was fasting, and he wasn’t drinking, he wasn’t eating. And he was drinking energy drinks.
“You saw what happened on TV, the problems that he had. They took him in for psychiatric evaluation for over 72 hours. What they came back with was that there was nothing wrong with him mentally -- it was physically. He was exhausted. He had severe dehydration. And that caused something called ‘delirium.’
“Apparently they tell us he’s over it now. He is healthy, mentally and physically, and he’ll be back in the UFC soon.”
Cheers followed. Jackson, who had stood by White while the UFC president spoke, raised a finger to suggest he had something to add.
“I’m already training,” he said, returning to the microphone. “So my next opponent better watch out. That was the worst mistake I ever made because now Dana’s over my back all the time: ‘Did you eat? Did you sleep? You drinking water?’ Acting like I’m 2 years old … but it’s all good. I love Dana, man. He was the first one there to take care of me and show me love. That’s all I needed was somebody to show me some love.”
Jackson told the audience he loved them, too. He jokingly flexed his biceps, and the ovation picked up.
White acknowledged, however, that Rampage still has some legal issues to deal with. In a Newport Beach Daily Pilot report the day after the car chase, a California Highway Patrol officer said Jackson had sideswiped a Cadillac Escalade driven by 38-year-old Holli Griggs of Huntington Beach, Calif.
Griggs told the newspaper that she and her unborn baby of 16 weeks were injured, but she was not sure how badly. She has since miscarried, her fiancé told the Daily Pilot, though no action has been filed yet.
Rampage didn’t address the matter at the news conference, but in an interview with Yahoo Sports, White suggested the accident was not connected to the miscarriage.
“That one is out there like, ‘He hit her and she lost her baby,’” White told Yahoo. “It was a week later. He knocked her mirror off her car. Rampage said, and he’ll tell you when you talk to him, ‘I care about everybody. I care about all life. I would never hurt anybody.’
“That’s the way he is. Now he’s in a situation where somebody’s trying to civil sue him and make some money. Absolutely not. Absolutely not, this is not a criminal thing. No way. I’m no lawyer and I’m no judge, (but) this stuff will be worked out in the court.”
The former UFC light heavyweight champion joined UFC President Dana White at the Mall of America, where Jackson made his first public comments since his July 15 arrest in Costa Mesa, Calif., on suspicion of felony evading, reckless driving and hit-and-run.
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In July, Jackson led police on a chase during which the fighter weaved his truck in and out of traffic while driving on a flat tire and talking on his cell phone, according to the Costa Mesa police department. He drove through red lights and onto the sidewalk on multiple occasions, “causing pedestrians to flee in terror,” police said.
Images of Jackson lying face-first in the street with officers
aiming their guns at him were posted on the Internet soon after the
incident. An SI.com report noted Jackson’s split with trainer
Juanito Ibarra and cited an anonymous source close to the fighter
who said in the days after Jackson’s release from jail, “It was
almost as if (Jackson) was possessed. He heard voices. He thought
he was a God.”
But Rampage seemed closer to his lighthearted self on Thursday in Minneapolis. At one point someone shouted a not-so-serious question asking where the party was. Jackson elicited laughs when he turned and passed the inquiry to White: “Hey, Dana, where the party at?”
White laughed, too, then moved to the microphone.
“I’ll explain real quickly what happened to Rampage Jackson,” White said in a more businesslike manner. “Rampage lost the fight to Forrest Griffin (Pictures). He hung out in Vegas for a week. He was hanging out by the pool and he was fasting, and he wasn’t drinking, he wasn’t eating. And he was drinking energy drinks.
“You saw what happened on TV, the problems that he had. They took him in for psychiatric evaluation for over 72 hours. What they came back with was that there was nothing wrong with him mentally -- it was physically. He was exhausted. He had severe dehydration. And that caused something called ‘delirium.’
“Apparently they tell us he’s over it now. He is healthy, mentally and physically, and he’ll be back in the UFC soon.”
Cheers followed. Jackson, who had stood by White while the UFC president spoke, raised a finger to suggest he had something to add.
“I’m already training,” he said, returning to the microphone. “So my next opponent better watch out. That was the worst mistake I ever made because now Dana’s over my back all the time: ‘Did you eat? Did you sleep? You drinking water?’ Acting like I’m 2 years old … but it’s all good. I love Dana, man. He was the first one there to take care of me and show me love. That’s all I needed was somebody to show me some love.”
Jackson told the audience he loved them, too. He jokingly flexed his biceps, and the ovation picked up.
White acknowledged, however, that Rampage still has some legal issues to deal with. In a Newport Beach Daily Pilot report the day after the car chase, a California Highway Patrol officer said Jackson had sideswiped a Cadillac Escalade driven by 38-year-old Holli Griggs of Huntington Beach, Calif.
Griggs told the newspaper that she and her unborn baby of 16 weeks were injured, but she was not sure how badly. She has since miscarried, her fiancé told the Daily Pilot, though no action has been filed yet.
Rampage didn’t address the matter at the news conference, but in an interview with Yahoo Sports, White suggested the accident was not connected to the miscarriage.
“That one is out there like, ‘He hit her and she lost her baby,’” White told Yahoo. “It was a week later. He knocked her mirror off her car. Rampage said, and he’ll tell you when you talk to him, ‘I care about everybody. I care about all life. I would never hurt anybody.’
“That’s the way he is. Now he’s in a situation where somebody’s trying to civil sue him and make some money. Absolutely not. Absolutely not, this is not a criminal thing. No way. I’m no lawyer and I’m no judge, (but) this stuff will be worked out in the court.”
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