Shelved: ‘Rampage’ Jackson Says He’s Hanging It Up
Jake Rossen Sep 23, 2009
Retirement in prizefighting means nothing. The vast majority of
athletes who walk away wind up coming back, spend years flopping
like carp and eventually get dragged out a bloody mess. This might
change somewhat in an era of bigger, better purses, and it may not.
Floyd Mayweather has a mattress stuffed with $100 bills and
“retired” in 2007. He fought last weekend. Nobody is allergic to
money.
On a blog post you have to be a registered member to view, Quinton Jackson huffed and puffed histrionically over perceived maltreatment by the UFC -- the organization that made him an American star -- implied they forced him into bouts he didn’t want and punctuated it with the announcement that he was “done fighting.”
“I’m hanging it up,” he wrote. “… I've been getting negative
reviews from the dumb ass fans that don't pay my bills or put my
kids though college.”
Jackson is bitter over reaction he had been cast in Fox’s “A-Team” remake, a movie that might potentially be fun but is equally likely to be another in an assembly line of pig slop-flicks that get the 7-11 push, have a big opening weekend and then drop off the face of the earth. Dana White had fun at Jackson’s expense, pondering that Rashad Evans didn’t have his eye on the Isaac the Bartender role; fans were predictably sour. They want their fighters to fight.
So Jackson, 31, is taking his chain and going home with it. We know he’s not the most emotionally mature of athletes -- if you need a refresher course, Google “Jackson energy drink highway arrest” -- and he’s openly spoken about hearing voices. If this is a man with concrete judgment, I am Muamar Khadafy.
Jackson’s claims of UFC strong-arming might have merit. But whatever they’ve done, it’s been in the service of a mutually profitable partnership. Without their promotional push, there is no “A-Team” movie and no opportunity to evolve beyond pugilism.
“The A-Team” opens June 11 of next year. If he’s serious about retirement, he’s better off deciding on June 12.
On a blog post you have to be a registered member to view, Quinton Jackson huffed and puffed histrionically over perceived maltreatment by the UFC -- the organization that made him an American star -- implied they forced him into bouts he didn’t want and punctuated it with the announcement that he was “done fighting.”
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Jackson is bitter over reaction he had been cast in Fox’s “A-Team” remake, a movie that might potentially be fun but is equally likely to be another in an assembly line of pig slop-flicks that get the 7-11 push, have a big opening weekend and then drop off the face of the earth. Dana White had fun at Jackson’s expense, pondering that Rashad Evans didn’t have his eye on the Isaac the Bartender role; fans were predictably sour. They want their fighters to fight.
So Jackson, 31, is taking his chain and going home with it. We know he’s not the most emotionally mature of athletes -- if you need a refresher course, Google “Jackson energy drink highway arrest” -- and he’s openly spoken about hearing voices. If this is a man with concrete judgment, I am Muamar Khadafy.
Jackson’s claims of UFC strong-arming might have merit. But whatever they’ve done, it’s been in the service of a mutually profitable partnership. Without their promotional push, there is no “A-Team” movie and no opportunity to evolve beyond pugilism.
“The A-Team” opens June 11 of next year. If he’s serious about retirement, he’s better off deciding on June 12.
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