Rampage accepts plea bargain; moves on from ugly period
With a plea bargain, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson showed that he has grown and matured from the fighter and the man he was just six months ago. He accepted a deal that requires him to do community service and check in periodically with a doctor. Hopefully, this will help him avoid another episode like he had in July, where he hit several cars and evaded the police not long after his loss to Forrest Griffin.
This is a step that Rampage needed to take to move on from a dark period in his life. Since the arrest, he split with trainer Juanito Ibarra under a cloud of questions, has started to train at Wolfslair in England, knocked out Wanderlei Silva and now is taking steps to put the arrest behind him.
More than anything, Jackson's maturity in the past month shows that Dana White was right to stand by Jackson. Did he screw up? Absolutely. His drive of terror not only made Rampage look bad, but it also made MMA look bad, as if fighters couldn't handle losses in a healthy manner. Mixed martial arts is full of very human, flawed characters who screw up from time to time. White had faith in his fighter, and his fighter rewarded that faith. Maybe everyone does deserve a second chance.
Well, maybe not everyone.
