A whole new 'Rampage'

Less than two weeks after losing his UFC light heavyweight championship this past summer in a close decision he still thinks he won, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was taken into custody twice in successive days, with people concerned about his mental health.

A few months later, a new Jackson has emerged, with a new team, new surroundings and a new lifestyle.

Whether that's enough to beat the old Wanderlei Silva and get back into title contention is the question for Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena when the two meet in the UFC 92 undercard match.

Jackson and Silva are hardly strangers, as they were two of the top light heavyweights during the glory years of the Pride promotion in Japan. During Silva's record-setting 5½-year title reign, he faced Jackson twice and knocked him out with knees both times in two of the most brutal matches in the history of the promotion.

"Honestly, I knew I'd meet Wanderlei again when he signed with UFC," said Jackson. "I don't see this as revenge. Revenge is a dangerous motive.

"This is my job. … When I fought Wanderlei the first two times [I] didn't have the outcome I wanted, and this is the chance to make it right in my mind. I'm older, more mature, and I'm better with my skills. This is the time where I can give it my 100 percent. This is the time I can go and do it. He beat me in the past, but that was the past. This a whole new Rampage, a new beginning."

Ten days after losing the title on July 5 to Forrest Griffin, who defends the title against Rashad Evans in Saturday night's main event, Jackson was involved in a police chase and a series of accidents. He was accused of weaving in and out of traffic, going over a center divider, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving on the sidewalk, causing pedestrians to flee in terror as well as running several red lights before being pulled over.

He was arrested on a felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor reckless driving and evading arrest charges.

The next day he was back in custody and taken to a local hospital for treatment after friends alerted police that he had suffered an apparent mental breakdown.

"He was not entirely speaking rationally when we had him in custody," said Lt. Clay Epperson of the Irvine, Calif., police force at the time.

"He was up for four days and was doing some crazy fasting thing," said UFC president Dana White at the time. "He was up for four days, drinking water and energy drinks. That was it. It's not good."

This will be Jackson's first match since that escapade more than five months ago.

"I did request a letter and got it from his attorney," said Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. "She told me he had a court date in January. He had a legal issue, but it was nothing to the level of us getting involved. We don't want to interfere with the procedure of a court case so we'll let it play out. It didn't have anything to do with unarmed combat. … I've got faith in Zuffa (the UFC's parent company) that he's fit to fight, and our doctors will check everyone out on Friday to make sure they are fit to go."

When he recovered, Jackson started making changes. He already had gotten rid of trainer Juanito Ibarra after the Griffin loss and made several comments in recent interviews about ridding himself of negative baggage.

"My last fight was probably the best thing that ever happened to me," said Jackson. "I got rid of some old baggage. I'm more hungry. I trained the hardest I've ever trained before. My cardio is the best it's ever been."

He did all of his serious training in England with the Wolfslair Academy camp, which includes Michael Bisping, and escaped the Southern California party scene. He hired a nutritionist and said he's learned to eat correctly for the first time in his life, joking that he'd subsisted on burgers at fast-food joints and then wondered why other people could go so much longer and harder than he could in training.

"I'm a professional athlete, and I have to eat like one," he said. "I never took supplements before. I have a good nutritionist telling me to do things I've never done before. I'm doing weights a little bit. I feel stronger and faster. I should have been doing this stuff years before. I got rid of the baggage and I've got good people around me."

This is one of many reinventions of Jackson, 30, whose career as a star began in a 2001 loss to Kazushi Sakuraba. Jackson was an unknown at the time, brought in to be cannon fodder for the person who was the catalyst of the heyday of the Pride organization. In the Japanese manner of MMA being an extension of pro wrestling, Jackson was billed as a homeless man, who came to the ring with a chain around his neck, howling, reminiscent of the Junkyard Dog. He slammed Sakuraba all over the ring before getting tired and losing to a choke in 5:41.

But the Japanese loved his slams, his character and his hilarious interviews and comical facial expressions. After a series of wins, he and Silva met for the first time in the finals of what was the most talent-laden tournament up to that point in MMA – Nov. 9, 2003, at a sold out Tokyo Dome with 53,000 fans.

To get there, Jackson, now 28-7, had to first beat Chuck Liddell, while Silva beat Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida earlier in the night. In the tournament championship, Jackson was on top and busted Silva's right eye with punches and knees. But after a controversial stand-up, Silva went wild and hit Jackson with 14 straight hard knees to the head. Jackson, draped over the ropes, started grinning as he went out, coming across to the Japanese fans as the movie monster that might seem finished at the end, but the smile lets you know he’ll be back.

The rematch, on Oct. 31, 2004, was a championship match that drew 24,028 to the Saitama Super Arena. In comical style, Jackson was talking on a cell phone as they were doing the ring introductions. Once again Jackson was scoring with punches and body shots when a stand-up was ordered. Jackson then decked Silva with a right to the jaw and had him in real trouble at the end of the first round. But Silva took over in the second round and knocked Jackson out again after three hard knees. The rematch was considered the best MMA match of that year.

By this point, Jackson was born-again. He was low-key, with the crazy swearing interviews a thing of the past. But slowly, the comedy side returned and his career rebounded.

"I have to have a different strategy," he said. "The first two times it didn't work. I'd have to be an idiot to have the same strategy. I may look stupid, but I'm not."