Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson was the man back in the day. The former UFC 205lbs champion, after all, was the most popular fighter in the entire MMA world in the early 2000s. Even if you haven’t watched him fight during his Pride days in Japan, almost every fan is aware of his hilarious interviews and trash-talking skills, which still hold up to this day.

In fact, Jackson emerged as one of the biggest stars in the UFC soon after joining it in 2007 and was integral in the company emerging as the biggest MMA promotion in the world. However, while his UFC stint was very entertaining, it was also pretty brief. Why? Well, because ‘Rampage’ fell out with UFC CEO Dana White.

On his recent ‘JAXXON’ podcast episode with former champions Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold, Jackson recalled the beginning of the end of his relationship with Dana White. “We [Dana White and I] used to be real cool. I think we fell out when I did that movie [ and I was supposed to fight Rashad [Evans] in my hometown [of Memphis at UFC 107 in 2009]. I think that’s when we really fell out,” Jackson revealed.

However, what made White turn against Jackson was after the UFC CEO found out about ‘Rampage’s contract, which the UFC had inherited after buying out World Fighting Alliance, the promotion that signed ‘Rampage’ after Pride dissolved in 2007. This was before Jackson jumped to the UFC, and his contract with that promotion guaranteed him a big share of the PPV sales.

“That was before that before he knew about my pay-per-view deal. I guess he didn’t know ‘cuz remember, they brought my contract from WFA, they brought the whole show. I had the sickest contract deal in UFC history I guarantee you,” Jackson added. This bad blood between White and Jackson eventually culminated in the fateful event that led ‘Rampage’ to take drastic steps to leave the UFC.

How one press conference by Dana White led to ‘Rampage’ leaving the UFC

Quinton Jackson kept fighting for the UFC until 2013. But even before his last outing, Jackson knew that he wanted to leave the UFC. Why? Well, it all has to do with ‘Rampage’s UFC 244 clash against Ryan Bader in 2012. The story as Jackson tells it goes something like this. The former UFC champion had torn his meniscus right before the Bader fight.

But being a professional and a company man, ‘Rampage’ told Dana White that he would still fight despite the injury. Because of this setback, the American was unable to perform in the fight and lost a lackluster unanimous decision to Bader. And Dana White, instead of commending or appreciating Jackson for fighting injured, chewed out the superstar at the post-fight presser after the Bader fight. The UFC CEO went as far as to say, “I think Rampage didn’t want to fight tonight.” 

Needless to say ‘Rampage’ was extremely hurt at this and determined to leave the UFC as soon as possible. In fact, the superstar left the promotion for Bellator in 2013, despite being under contract with the UFC, which led to a legal battle between the two promotions. What do you think about ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s revelations about how he and Dana White started falling out?