“Jones wouldn’t fight me like a man,” said ‘Rampage’ Jackson ahead of his fight against Jon Jones. On September 24, 2011, Quinton Jackson stepped inside the cage against ‘Bones’, who was just 24 years old. Jackson was confident that victory was imminent, believing he wouldn’t let any young fighter defeat him. However, the exact opposite happened, as Jones dominated Jackson for four rounds before finishing him with a rear-naked choke. A decade has passed since that incident, and Jackson has come forward to reveal that he used TRT after the loss to improve his performance.

Trash-talking was ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s specialty, a tactic he used to get inside the minds of his opponents. However, Jon Jones was different. The 24-year-old newcomer became a champion by defeating Mauricio Rua, making him the youngest fighter ever to do so. Additionally, his relentless pace and ruthless approach were something Jackson hadn’t anticipated. After the crushing defeat, Jackson couldn’t cope with the loss and he started his TRT cycle.

While having a conversation with Bradley Martyn, the former UFC fighter explained that after he was defeated by Jon Jones, he consulted the doctors and started his TRT cycle for better performance, “I did it after I lost to Jon Jones, and it was legal in the UFC. They allowed us to do it—we had a doctor’s prescription. After that fight, I went to check my levels because I couldn’t believe Jon Jones beat me.”

He further added, “That was my first time ever losing a fight while being in that good of shape, right? Yeah, so I was overly confident. I didn’t know how tough Jon Jones was, right? Yeah. So, I went to check my levels, and they were super low. I was like, ‘And I [ __ ], this young kid, you know?’ That was my first—”

The loss hit him so hard that Jackson began to question his fighting prowess. Despite the fact that TRT was legal at the time, he was brutally heckled by the MMA community for taking a shortcut. He called out all the haters who had questioned him at that time. “If my testosterone gets low and the doctor tells me, ‘You need to raise your levels back up to where you used to be when you were 25,’ and you’re fighting these young folks, I’m going to go do it. I feel like it’s a medical condition. I have to say this.”

However, years after the TRT usage, Quinton Jackson understood that the performance-enhancing drugs were not meant for him. Let us have a look at it.

Rampage Jackson confesses about his TRT mistakes

Rampage Jackson took the help of TRT ahead of his clash against Ryan Badr at UFC 144. However, it couldn’t help him much and he lost the fight. It must be noted that despite losing to ‘Darth’ via unanimous decision after coming in overweight, Jackson clarified that the TRT he was using wasn’t for a competitive edge but to address a medical condition, as recommended by his doctor. Decades later, Jackson is sure that his TRT might have been the reason for his loss.

In his conversation with Martyn, Jackson revealed the horrors of the TRT, “When I first started doing it, I felt good. I felt like I got strong, something like that. But then, after that, I started getting fat, so I never touched it again. I didn’t—I didn’t listen to what the doctor said, but they didn’t put me on any Estrogen blockers or anything.”

Well, since he is not competing professionally, Jackson has expressed his willingness to use the TRT procedure all over again but he faces resistance from his coach who advocates for natural methods. Given that, what are your thoughts on the fighter? State your opinion in the comments below.