Ex-champ Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson plans split from UFC, addresses TRT



Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's days in the UFC appear numbered.

Following a week-long series of Twitter posts in which the former champion said he will leave the organization once he completes the one remaining fight on his contract, Jackson on Monday confirmed he's planning to continue his career elsewhere.

With HDNet's Bas Rutten, he also discussed his recent testosterone-replacement therapy.

Jackson recently suffered a shutout unanimous-decision loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 144 in Japan, where he said his issues with the UFC reached a head. Jackson, who missed weight for the Feb. 26 fight, said a knee injury contributed to the entire mess.

"I don't want to fight for the UFC no more," he told Rutten. "I think the fans don't understand. They think that just because I make a lot of money, I should be happy – because I've got a nice house. I've always stated that I fight for money because it's my career, but I think a lot of fans are sheep, and they don't understand.

"The thing is, the UFC knew I was injured, and they knew I still fought for them. I feel like, honestly, if I didn't fight on that card in Japan, I don't think the appeal would have been as big. I'm not trying to toot my own horn or nothing like that. But they only had me and (fellow PRIDE vet) Mark Hunt (on that card)."

Jackson also has taken issue with recent matchups the UFC officials presented him. He doesn't like that he's been matched up with wrestlers, including Bader, Jon Jones, Matt Hamill and Rashad Evans in recent fights. (However, the Evans fight served as a "TUF 10" coach-vs.-coach bout, and the Jones fight was for the title.)

"I think (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva needs to be slapped in the face," he said. "I'm sorry, (but) you've got a fighter like me who likes to go out there and fight fights, so why do you keep giving me wrestlers who are going to take me down and hump me?

"I'm sorry, but I'm really tired of the UFC."

The TRT issue, which Jackson first discussed with "Fighters Only" magazine, recently became a hot-button topic, especially after his interview suggested a UFC-selected doctor prescribed it. However, Jackson clarified that wasn't the case.

"I did use TRT because my doctor prescribed it to me," he said. "He tested my levels. My levels were low, and he said it would let me heal up my knee."

So why did UFC president Dana White later try to discredit the story and distance himself from the TRT?

"I think what happened was, I did an interview with this one guy, and he recorded it," Jackson said. "I thought he was going to put it up just like you're doing. But no, he took some of it and typed it, and the guy who typed it was a British guy. He didn't understand my English. He didn't understand my accent. He just typed some stuff that he thought I said, which is wrong.

"I think they tried to say that I had like a UFC doctor give it to me or something like that, which is wrong. I had my personal doctor. He gets paid by the UFC. He's my personal doctor, but I don't have to pay him. 'He just sends the bill' to UFC basically is what I said.

"So that's why I said the UFC knew I was hurt. I don't know if the UFC knew what I was doing. But the UFC paid (for) me to see him. He sent me to another doctor. The doctor that he sent me to, I pay him. The UFC doesn't pay the doctor who did the TRT. I pay that TRT. But the doctor who takes care of me, the UFC pays him."

Now, the damage appears unfixable. Jackson said he has plenty of fighting years left, and they're unlikely to come in the UFC. MMAjunkie.com has been unable to reach Jackson or his representatives, but as he told Rutten, his next UFC fight will surely be his last.

"The UFC talks about being in a billion homes," Jackson said. "They're making all this money. Yet I'm making less money than I used to make with the UFC. The UFC is getting bigger, which means I'm getting bigger, but I'm making less money. Why?

"So I just don't want to be with them no more. I think the flavor is done. If anybody thinks that I can't make my own career choices and stuff like that, then you're a bigot. I can do whatever the hell I want to do. I'm a grown man. I don't want to have to fight for somebody no more if they're not really appreciating me."