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09-11-2004, 12:31
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson gave his first public interview since his loss to Vanderlei Silva. MMAWeekly SoundOff Radio Monday and discussed his epic battle with Wanderlei Silva and where he goes from here. Radio host Ryan Bennett and co-host Frank Trigg asked the questions.
Ryan Bennett: Quinton, how are you doing?
Quinton Jackson: I'm doing all right man.
Bennett: Let me ask you, a loss is a loss and I know it's never easy to lose. Does it make it any easier when you know you put on a tremendous show and you fought like that?
Jackson: I don't know. I haven't even seen the fight man.
Bennett: You haven't seen it?
Jackson: No, I don't even know you y'all are talking about. You know, I wanted to be champion man but, you know, things didn't work out my way. To me, I don't care how good the fight was. You know what I'm saying?
Bennett: Will you watch that fight? Will you go back and watch it?
Jackson: I might. After a couple of weeks I might watch it. I was hanging on the ropes so it will be kinda hard for me to watch something like that.
Bennett: Quinton, take me through that fight. It was an amazing fight. Let's talk the first round in general. You finished that round so strong. I mean, did you feel like you had him finished in that first round?
Jackson: I don't even remember the fight man.
Bennett: You don't remember it at all?
Jackson: I just remember little bits and pieces. I don't really remember.
Bennett: What do you remember about the fight?
Jackson: I remember talking on the telephone. That's all man [laughs].
Bennett: Talk about the beginning of that fight. You brought up the cell phone, talk about that. Who were you calling?
Jackson: I was talking to my girlfriend man.
Bennett: Did you really?
Jackson: Yeah.
Bennett: [laughs]
Frank Trigg: That is so hot.
Trigg: Rampage, is the reason you can't remember part of the fight because you were finally in a position, in a zone where you could just compete without thought process. Where like Michael Jordon used to call it the zone. Where you're just competing on such a high level you just didn't think about anything. Was that the reason why you can't remember it?
Jackson: I think the main reason why I can't remember is because I got knocked out. I went to this fight, I was over confident. I just knew I was going to win. I wasn't nervous at all and I paid the price for it. I just remember bits and pieces. I remember him hitting me and I remember saying to myself, man some of these punches are kinda hard. So, I think he was landing some of them. I remember my eye bleeding. You know I wear glasses, I felt like I had glasses on. I wanted to push my glasses up. You know how people put their glasses up on their eyes? I remember having that feeling, like I wanted to push my glasses up. I think I had blood dripping in one of my eyes. I remember elbowing him in the body when he was on the ground. I remember that I got the mount and then the bell ring. That's all I remember man. I don't even remember the second round at all.
Bennett: What do you remember, just after the fight? Take me through that. I mean, what happened after the fight? Did you go straight to the hospital or what happened?
Jackson: Yeah, they took me to the hospital. I had some cuts on my eyes. They had to put stitches in my eyes. They did a CAT scan and stuff like that. I was going in and out of consciousness. I remember going to sleep and waking up and going to sleep. I don't know how long I was at the hospital. It was my first time getting knocked out. You know what I'm saying? It's hard to stay awake after you get knocked out. I don't even know what he knocked me out with. Whatever it was man, it put me out man. I went to sleep.
Bennett: It was a crazy fight man. It was one for the ages. I tell you what, everyone who's seen that fight was just, I mean, everyone at my house was going crazy. Everyone at Trigg's place.
Trigg: Haven't you heard the reports that that arguably right now is he best fight ever in the history of Mixed Martial Arts, ever?
Jackson: I heard that. That's what I heard. I haven't watched it yet.
Trigg: I've got to tell you what Rampage. When you get a little more comfortable. I'm the same way. I won't watch my fights. It takes me a little while to actually sit down and get to them. When you get a minute, you should watch this fight. It was the best fight I have ever seen in my life. Ever. I know it doesn't help with the loss. It doesn't help with the fact that you don't have the title but you were absolutely amazing in that fight.
Bennett: Rampage, there was a time in that fight, the end of the first round,you were reigning shots and I kept thinking, man if there was like ten seconds more in this round, they would have stopped the fight. I mean, it was that impressive, that close. You don't even remember the end of that first round do you?
Jackson: I remember the bell ringing. I remember I had him mounted. I thought he got out from the mount. I remember him kept trying to put me in a triangle and he was wrapping his arm around my leg so I wouldn't slam him. I remember him doing this type of stuff. I knew he had trained for this. I don't even know why he was putting the triangle choke on me and stuff like that. Normally when I fight, whether I win or lose, I really don't remember all my fights. I don't remember. I'll have to watch it. I learn what I do when I watch the fight. Most of the time, I don't even know what I did. When I fought Kevin Randleman, I didn't know that I had went to the ground with him at first in the beginning of the fight. I didn't even know that.
Bennett: I know that a lot of fans were pretty concerned after the fight of course. And just judging from what you're saying, when you're going in and out of consciousness, that's always a scary thing. Let me ask you right now, how are you physically?
Jackson: I'm good. I just got a broken nose. I've just got to go get that checked out. I go to the doctor tomorrow, see if I can get my nose fixed and get these stitches out of my head. Other than that, I'm pretty good. I've learned a lesson. I'm going to start training now. I took some pictures of my face. I'm going to put that up in my room and everyday before I go train I'm going to look at that before I start training. Normally I'll be lazy man. As soon as my coach turns his back, I'm goofing off. I ain't doing what I'm supposed to do but that's a wake up call. God's really showed me something. You know what I'm saying? He taught me a lesson.
Bennett: Let me ask you. So did you feel that training wise, that was the big difference in the fight?
Jackson: Well, yeah. I think for this fight, I was in pretty good shape. I think I've been in better shape before. I was in pretty good shape but I see how Tito trains and I trained with Ricco. I never train like those guys. I'm going to have to start training like those guys.
Bennett: So, bottom line, you've got to get your training to a new level to get you to where you want to go?
Jackson: That's what it is. All those times I was just lallygagging. I ain't going to lie to you, I hate training. It's the worst part about being a fighter. I hate the training. I've got to go do it everyday even when I don't feel like it. You know what I'm saying? I've got to take my son with me and, you know what I'm saying, watch him most of the time when I'm training. I ain't going to lie, I hate training. It's one of those things where I've got to do it and sometimes I get burnt out. Then I've got to go on a diet. You know what I'm saying? I hate training. Now, you know what I'm saying, I've got to love it or get knocked out again.
Bennett: Fighters go different ways. Some fighters, when they sustain a loss this, some guys are never the same but Trigg you hear Quinton, he's ready to go train. He wants to get better man.
Trigg: That's true. He can be more than happy to come up here and train with us at R-1 if he wants.
Jackson: Yeah, I need, you know, most guys I train with for all my fights are amateur fighters and some of them don't fight at all. I need some kickboxers and stuff to spar with. I think I sparred all but five times for this fight. I've got nobody to spar with. Sometimes my coach, he tries his best. Sometimes my coach gets in there and spars with me but, you know, he gets injured and stuff like that. Sometimes it's hard to find some of my teammates to spar with me because my team is really young. A lot of guys are small. You know what I'm saying? Even some of the big guys, they're big but they don't know kick-boxing or something like that. They are wrestlers or Jiu-Jitsu guys. I really needed a lot of kick-boxing for this fight. I really can't get that much sparring. It's been that way all the time. Now, my first time getting knocked out, actually it woke me up. You know what I'm saying?
Bennett: Go up to R-1 and beat up on Trigg.
Jackson: Man, I ain't trying to get slammed by "Twinkle Toes."
Bennett: [laughs]
Trigg: You're too big for me to pick up.
Jackson: I don't want to get slammed by "Twinkle Toes." [laughs]
Bennett: Who does? You're not that far from Trigg are you?
Jackson: Where are you at, in Vegas?
Trigg: No, I'm right by LAX.
Bennett: He's in L.A. man. He's close to you.
Jackson: Yeah, yeah. I've got to talk to my coach and see what we are going to do. See if we can get somebody, you know, that's well rounded to train with me and bring people down sometimes to train with me too.
Bennett: Rampage, let me ask you. When do you want to fight again?
Jackson: I wanted to fight on the New Year's one but I don't think my nose will be ready. I think I've got to take some time off.
Bennett: That's what I meant. So just to heal a broken nose, how long are you out? What is the doctor telling you? How long are you going to be out for?
Jackson: Japanese doctors don't tell you nothing. That's the only doctor I've seen. They don't even tell you if you've got stitches in your head or not. They don't tell you, you've got to guess.
Bennett: Well Quinton, I appreciate it man. Like I said, a lot of fight fans wanted to know how you were and I appreciate you jumping on. We wanted to check in with you and make sure everything is going OK. Once again man, I know it's not much of a condolence so to speak, but you fought a great fight and a lot of fight fans, I'm telling you, everyone that watched that fight was truly amazed. We look forward to you coming back.
Jackson: That actually makes me feel good, y'all saying it was an exciting fight because that's my skill. That's what I like to do. I like to excite the fans. I like to move the crowd but I just don't like to get knocked out. But you know what I'm saying, I like to move the crowd. At least I did my job. That's what I get paid for right? Put on a show. They ain't going to stop this black man. It's going to take more than this to stop this black man.
Bennett: You'll be back.
Jackson: I'll be back and when I come back, I feel for whoever else I fight.
Bennett: Yeah, I don't think too many guys want to be the next guy in line. Trigg you want to take that fight?
Trigg: Of course I do.
Jackson: Like I said, I don't want to get slammed by "Twinkle Toes." What are you trying to set up man? You going to sic "Twinkle Toes" on me? I've seen him fight.
Trigg: I should be aloud to bring a stick and a chair.
Bennett: Rampage, I appreciate it man. Thank you so much and we'll talk to you soon.
Jackson: All right man. God bless y'all man.
Bennett: You too. Take care.
Ryan Bennett: Quinton, how are you doing?
Quinton Jackson: I'm doing all right man.
Bennett: Let me ask you, a loss is a loss and I know it's never easy to lose. Does it make it any easier when you know you put on a tremendous show and you fought like that?
Jackson: I don't know. I haven't even seen the fight man.
Bennett: You haven't seen it?
Jackson: No, I don't even know you y'all are talking about. You know, I wanted to be champion man but, you know, things didn't work out my way. To me, I don't care how good the fight was. You know what I'm saying?
Bennett: Will you watch that fight? Will you go back and watch it?
Jackson: I might. After a couple of weeks I might watch it. I was hanging on the ropes so it will be kinda hard for me to watch something like that.
Bennett: Quinton, take me through that fight. It was an amazing fight. Let's talk the first round in general. You finished that round so strong. I mean, did you feel like you had him finished in that first round?
Jackson: I don't even remember the fight man.
Bennett: You don't remember it at all?
Jackson: I just remember little bits and pieces. I don't really remember.
Bennett: What do you remember about the fight?
Jackson: I remember talking on the telephone. That's all man [laughs].
Bennett: Talk about the beginning of that fight. You brought up the cell phone, talk about that. Who were you calling?
Jackson: I was talking to my girlfriend man.
Bennett: Did you really?
Jackson: Yeah.
Bennett: [laughs]
Frank Trigg: That is so hot.
Trigg: Rampage, is the reason you can't remember part of the fight because you were finally in a position, in a zone where you could just compete without thought process. Where like Michael Jordon used to call it the zone. Where you're just competing on such a high level you just didn't think about anything. Was that the reason why you can't remember it?
Jackson: I think the main reason why I can't remember is because I got knocked out. I went to this fight, I was over confident. I just knew I was going to win. I wasn't nervous at all and I paid the price for it. I just remember bits and pieces. I remember him hitting me and I remember saying to myself, man some of these punches are kinda hard. So, I think he was landing some of them. I remember my eye bleeding. You know I wear glasses, I felt like I had glasses on. I wanted to push my glasses up. You know how people put their glasses up on their eyes? I remember having that feeling, like I wanted to push my glasses up. I think I had blood dripping in one of my eyes. I remember elbowing him in the body when he was on the ground. I remember that I got the mount and then the bell ring. That's all I remember man. I don't even remember the second round at all.
Bennett: What do you remember, just after the fight? Take me through that. I mean, what happened after the fight? Did you go straight to the hospital or what happened?
Jackson: Yeah, they took me to the hospital. I had some cuts on my eyes. They had to put stitches in my eyes. They did a CAT scan and stuff like that. I was going in and out of consciousness. I remember going to sleep and waking up and going to sleep. I don't know how long I was at the hospital. It was my first time getting knocked out. You know what I'm saying? It's hard to stay awake after you get knocked out. I don't even know what he knocked me out with. Whatever it was man, it put me out man. I went to sleep.
Bennett: It was a crazy fight man. It was one for the ages. I tell you what, everyone who's seen that fight was just, I mean, everyone at my house was going crazy. Everyone at Trigg's place.
Trigg: Haven't you heard the reports that that arguably right now is he best fight ever in the history of Mixed Martial Arts, ever?
Jackson: I heard that. That's what I heard. I haven't watched it yet.
Trigg: I've got to tell you what Rampage. When you get a little more comfortable. I'm the same way. I won't watch my fights. It takes me a little while to actually sit down and get to them. When you get a minute, you should watch this fight. It was the best fight I have ever seen in my life. Ever. I know it doesn't help with the loss. It doesn't help with the fact that you don't have the title but you were absolutely amazing in that fight.
Bennett: Rampage, there was a time in that fight, the end of the first round,you were reigning shots and I kept thinking, man if there was like ten seconds more in this round, they would have stopped the fight. I mean, it was that impressive, that close. You don't even remember the end of that first round do you?
Jackson: I remember the bell ringing. I remember I had him mounted. I thought he got out from the mount. I remember him kept trying to put me in a triangle and he was wrapping his arm around my leg so I wouldn't slam him. I remember him doing this type of stuff. I knew he had trained for this. I don't even know why he was putting the triangle choke on me and stuff like that. Normally when I fight, whether I win or lose, I really don't remember all my fights. I don't remember. I'll have to watch it. I learn what I do when I watch the fight. Most of the time, I don't even know what I did. When I fought Kevin Randleman, I didn't know that I had went to the ground with him at first in the beginning of the fight. I didn't even know that.
Bennett: I know that a lot of fans were pretty concerned after the fight of course. And just judging from what you're saying, when you're going in and out of consciousness, that's always a scary thing. Let me ask you right now, how are you physically?
Jackson: I'm good. I just got a broken nose. I've just got to go get that checked out. I go to the doctor tomorrow, see if I can get my nose fixed and get these stitches out of my head. Other than that, I'm pretty good. I've learned a lesson. I'm going to start training now. I took some pictures of my face. I'm going to put that up in my room and everyday before I go train I'm going to look at that before I start training. Normally I'll be lazy man. As soon as my coach turns his back, I'm goofing off. I ain't doing what I'm supposed to do but that's a wake up call. God's really showed me something. You know what I'm saying? He taught me a lesson.
Bennett: Let me ask you. So did you feel that training wise, that was the big difference in the fight?
Jackson: Well, yeah. I think for this fight, I was in pretty good shape. I think I've been in better shape before. I was in pretty good shape but I see how Tito trains and I trained with Ricco. I never train like those guys. I'm going to have to start training like those guys.
Bennett: So, bottom line, you've got to get your training to a new level to get you to where you want to go?
Jackson: That's what it is. All those times I was just lallygagging. I ain't going to lie to you, I hate training. It's the worst part about being a fighter. I hate the training. I've got to go do it everyday even when I don't feel like it. You know what I'm saying? I've got to take my son with me and, you know what I'm saying, watch him most of the time when I'm training. I ain't going to lie, I hate training. It's one of those things where I've got to do it and sometimes I get burnt out. Then I've got to go on a diet. You know what I'm saying? I hate training. Now, you know what I'm saying, I've got to love it or get knocked out again.
Bennett: Fighters go different ways. Some fighters, when they sustain a loss this, some guys are never the same but Trigg you hear Quinton, he's ready to go train. He wants to get better man.
Trigg: That's true. He can be more than happy to come up here and train with us at R-1 if he wants.
Jackson: Yeah, I need, you know, most guys I train with for all my fights are amateur fighters and some of them don't fight at all. I need some kickboxers and stuff to spar with. I think I sparred all but five times for this fight. I've got nobody to spar with. Sometimes my coach, he tries his best. Sometimes my coach gets in there and spars with me but, you know, he gets injured and stuff like that. Sometimes it's hard to find some of my teammates to spar with me because my team is really young. A lot of guys are small. You know what I'm saying? Even some of the big guys, they're big but they don't know kick-boxing or something like that. They are wrestlers or Jiu-Jitsu guys. I really needed a lot of kick-boxing for this fight. I really can't get that much sparring. It's been that way all the time. Now, my first time getting knocked out, actually it woke me up. You know what I'm saying?
Bennett: Go up to R-1 and beat up on Trigg.
Jackson: Man, I ain't trying to get slammed by "Twinkle Toes."
Bennett: [laughs]
Trigg: You're too big for me to pick up.
Jackson: I don't want to get slammed by "Twinkle Toes." [laughs]
Bennett: Who does? You're not that far from Trigg are you?
Jackson: Where are you at, in Vegas?
Trigg: No, I'm right by LAX.
Bennett: He's in L.A. man. He's close to you.
Jackson: Yeah, yeah. I've got to talk to my coach and see what we are going to do. See if we can get somebody, you know, that's well rounded to train with me and bring people down sometimes to train with me too.
Bennett: Rampage, let me ask you. When do you want to fight again?
Jackson: I wanted to fight on the New Year's one but I don't think my nose will be ready. I think I've got to take some time off.
Bennett: That's what I meant. So just to heal a broken nose, how long are you out? What is the doctor telling you? How long are you going to be out for?
Jackson: Japanese doctors don't tell you nothing. That's the only doctor I've seen. They don't even tell you if you've got stitches in your head or not. They don't tell you, you've got to guess.
Bennett: Well Quinton, I appreciate it man. Like I said, a lot of fight fans wanted to know how you were and I appreciate you jumping on. We wanted to check in with you and make sure everything is going OK. Once again man, I know it's not much of a condolence so to speak, but you fought a great fight and a lot of fight fans, I'm telling you, everyone that watched that fight was truly amazed. We look forward to you coming back.
Jackson: That actually makes me feel good, y'all saying it was an exciting fight because that's my skill. That's what I like to do. I like to excite the fans. I like to move the crowd but I just don't like to get knocked out. But you know what I'm saying, I like to move the crowd. At least I did my job. That's what I get paid for right? Put on a show. They ain't going to stop this black man. It's going to take more than this to stop this black man.
Bennett: You'll be back.
Jackson: I'll be back and when I come back, I feel for whoever else I fight.
Bennett: Yeah, I don't think too many guys want to be the next guy in line. Trigg you want to take that fight?
Trigg: Of course I do.
Jackson: Like I said, I don't want to get slammed by "Twinkle Toes." What are you trying to set up man? You going to sic "Twinkle Toes" on me? I've seen him fight.
Trigg: I should be aloud to bring a stick and a chair.
Bennett: Rampage, I appreciate it man. Thank you so much and we'll talk to you soon.
Jackson: All right man. God bless y'all man.
Bennett: You too. Take care.