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Rampage Jackson: ‘I Might as Well Go Ahead and Retire'

After Lengthy Legal Battle, Rampage Jackson Leaves UFC, Heads Back to Bellator

Although he returned to the Octagon earlier this year with a win over Fabio Maldonado at UFC 186, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is nearing the end of his rope when it comes to fighting.

Jackson signed with and fought for the UFC after he and his management terminated his contract with Bellator after what they deemed an unresolved breach on Bellator and Viacom's part.

“They promised movies, pro wrestling, reality shows and everything to boost their pay-per-views,” Jackson said on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. “Everybody saw what happened to Bjorn Rebney, he got canned. Scott Coker came in and the company was turned upside down and my contract got (expletive) on. For some reason, Viacom didn't want to fix things. So my manager terminated (our contract).”

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His former employer tried to stop him from fighting at UFC 186 in April, but a court overturned a temporary injunction, which cleared the way for Jackson to fight.

Despite his successful return to the UFC, Jackson is still tied up in a breach of contract lawsuit with Bellator and Viacom, which has been dragging on, and keeping him from fighting again. With the way things are going, Jackson, at 37 years old, now feels like he may have fought his last fight and is contemplating hanging up his gloves for good.

“I feel they are just trying to tie me up so I don't fight. But at the end of the day, and I've been thinking about this a long time, I'm thinking Bellator can't make me fight for them, and I'm thinking I might as well go ahead and retire,” said Jackson.

“If Bellator tries to keep holding me up, I'll just retire and do movies and television shows. It's just too much stress for one person to deal with.”

Jackson has been fighting professionally since 1999. He's weathered nearly the full evolution of the sport in the United States, and has fought globally. He's currently on a four-fight winning streak, with an overall record of 36-11, and maybe that's enough.

He also has a lengthy resume in television shows and movies, which are much less harsh on his body, so maybe a little more than a deacde-and-a-half of fighting is enough.

“There is only so much one human being can take. So if this court stuff don't go well, I might as well retire. I ain't going to let someone force me to fight for them. I've done a lot in this sport, so the easiest thing to do is retire and walk away.”

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