Quentin “Rampage” Jackson Has a Real Life GTA IV Exeperience

by Daniel Prager on July 21, 2008

TMZ

My take: Quentin “Rampage” Jackson, one of the most well known fighters in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) was arrested for leading police on a high speed chase through the streets of Southern California. He was then given a psychiatric evaluation and is now in the psych ward. Now for starters, anyone who has the nickname rampage is going to have some issues. Is it really a shock to anyone that a guy who fights for a living and has a middle name “rampage” would have some anger or rage issues?

For me this arrest leads to larger question about MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and UFC. Both MMA and UFC are growing very quickly. In ESPN magazine this month, there was an article on a ten year old MMA star. For those who don’t know, MMA is like boxing except you can use grabs and kicks as well as punches to pulverize your opponent. The first MMA fight on network television was held last month on CBS and it received outstanding ratings.

MMA is by far the most violent sport accepted and covered by the main stream media. For me, MMA represents a threshold that sport has crossed. In violent sports there is a dichotomy between who you are on the field, on the floor, or in the ring and who you are off floor, field, and ring. When those two personalities cross, that is when there is trouble. I believe that to be successful in this sport you need to be a violent person, a person so violent, that violence and anger are not just part of your sporting life, but your personal life as well. How can you literally be a trained killer and cheered on by millions, and then become docile and “normal” the second the lights go off? As a society we have created Quentin’s rampage. I’m not saying that MMA isn’t fun to watch or entertaining, we just can’t be shocked when something like this happens again with another ultimate fighter.

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Tagged as: MMA, Quentin "rampage" Jackson, UFC

  • Dan
    I disagree. While Mr. Rampage may be a victim of circumstance/a personality crisis, his behavior is inexcusable. The fact is, as a front-running professional athlete in a sport that is becoming more and more legitimate in the eye of the general public, this dude should needs to realize that he does have to maintain an acceptable image, as well as manage a stage persona, however violent.
    While this may seem like a high standard for an athlete (negotiating two seemingly incongruous self-images), it's not like we expect anything else from our other favorite professional athletes.
    Essentially, this bad boy shit is not going to win anyone over, and by "not being shocked" when this behavior is repeated, we are establishing self-fulfilling prophecies in which mixed martial artists will begin to believe . By more or less expecting unacceptable behavior from these individuals, we are almost daring them to meet unethical standards for acting out by UFC fighters.
    I think that public shock and legal action are imperative, and that this kind of crap should not be tolerated by the public, especially if UFC want to maintain any kind of legitimacy in sports.
  • Baker
    interesting article--though I think its a lame excuse for just another person-of-note doing something stupid (in the time i'm writing this at least four reality-tv stars have probably crashed their cars on Sunset Blvd).

    People trained in martial arts, to the incredible degree of these fighters, have an innate level of discipline that often serves to instill values contrary to what you might assume. Often times the person with the most fighting training is the last person in the room who wants to fight--if they are formally trained and not insane (you don't see Chuck Liddell beating people up in parking lots....at least outside of Entourage). While I agree taht many of the mixed martial arts fighters probably have to embody many traits that could lead to negative beahvior to even be drawn to the sport---like Dan says, it is no exscuse because I doubt that is the majority.

    Dan makes a good point when he says that if we become accustomed to "not being shocked" then we are, consequently, almost accepting its existence. If anything, Mixed Martial Arts fighters should be held at a higher standard than anyone else (just as the law holds them to a higher standard in any event of assault).
  • BigGunz
    Not to compare Britney Spears to Rampage, but are we gonna say all pop stars are nuts just because Britney lost her marbles? Rampage is an elite athlete who, unfortunately, has a few mental issues. Welcome to general society! There are over 400 registered fighters in the ufc alone. Ok, so one guy got freaked out when he lost his belt. Most martial artists are rational, trained athletes(especially at Rampage's level). Don't use this as an oppurtunity to dish pot shots at the sport or the athletes in the sport.
  • micah
    funny thing is as violent sports goes, more people died from fishing than boxing or MMA combined. more than 500 people have died world wide from boxing in the last century and less than 10 in MMA. so does this same idea or narrow thought apply to boxing, and wrestling. since it is a combination of the 2 sports. I doubt it. I have spent time in a boxing gym, and there has been many kids as young as 8 learning to box. why no criticism there? no one ever has a good reason or an answer to these questions. another point, what about drug addicted, steroid abusing, murdering sports figures, in baseball, basketball and football. or does this behavior only apply now because its a combat sport. or are we going McCain on MMA again!!! just get a life. everytime i watch golfing on TV which is called a sport i dont get it, but somehow they make millions. it always comes down to who you are and how you feel about the sport when you critique it!!! obviously you dont like it, so you attack it.
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