Rampage wants out, UFC says feeling is mutual

[Kemal]

Rampage wants out, and after recent accusations of withholding pay, UFC says feeling is mutual

The UFC/Quinton "Rampage" Jackson relationship continues steaming ahead towards a divorce due to irreconcilable differences. The two sides still have an exclusive negotiation period followed by a matching period to work their way through, but by most accounts, the business connection is beyond saving.

In a Wednesday interview with MMA Heat, Jackson accused the UFC of lying about their pay-per-view numbers as well as his fight pay, which UFC president Dana White said last week equaled $15.2 million over the last six years.

Those allegations angered White, who on Thursday attacked them as baseless.

"Any fighter who has a pay-per-view deal has audit rights," he said. "So if you really thought you were ripped off on pay-per-view, wouldn't you be lawyering up now and coming in with your audit team to come and check the books? Yeah, you would."

White said those comments were part of a trend, saying Jackson "wasn't very nice" on his way out of the company. Meanwhile, while Jackson is on record saying that White was civil to him in his final fight weekend, he has still repeatedly said he wants to go elsewhere.

That would be fine with White.

"I've got no beef with Rampage," he said. "I have no ill will towards him. I'm not out to hurt Rampage or anything like that. He's not happy? Go somewhere else. Go somewhere where you can be made happy."

Jackson went 7-5 with the promotion with signature wins over Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson which made him the undisputed light-heavyweight champion. But more recent days haven't been as fruitful. After losing to Glover Teixeira last weekend, Jackson was hit with the first three-fight losing streak of his career.

White seemed to indicate that even if Jackson's contract wasn't up, that woeful streak could have put Jackson's future in doubt with the promotion.

"To be honest with you, I think Rampage said it better himself," he said. "This is a quote from Rampage: 'I don't think I can compete with the best in the world anymore. I don't think I'm at that level anymore. I'll just go out and put some entertaining fights that people want to watch.'"

White said he recently had a conversation with Jackson's manager about his future direction but that no further talks between the sides are planned. As far as he's concerned, the door on Rampage returning to the UFC is slammed shut.

[kooivechter]

Azijnpisser die Rampage, elke keer bij zijn verlies. Hij is gewoon niet meer goed genoeg.