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[Kimbo> Rampage]

Apr 26, 2012 - WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Many words have been used to describe Quinton "Rampage" Jackson over the years: Controversial, outspoken, hard hitting, and perhaps a few that aren’t fit to print.

But when UFC president Dana White looks back on the career of the former light heavyweight champion, two words come to his mind: Wasted potential.

"I think he could have been so much better if he applied himself," White said Tuesday. "He had all the tools. Incredible chin, knockout power in both hands, incredible charisma and personality.

"Tell me Rampage Jackson wasn’t born to fight. Not only in his power, but his attributes, his wrestling, his chin, the list goes on and on."

So why wasn't Jackson's career, which included unifying the UFC and PRIDE 205-pound titles, all it could be? White wouldn’t call Rampage’s Hollywood dalliances a distraction and even complemented him on his acting career.

"If you look at the only movie he ever acted in, "The A-Team," he did a great job in that movie," White said. "If you look at all the guys who have tried to cross over into acting, Rampage is the only one who has ever done a good job at it. He’s actually a really good actor."

Rather, it’s been the periods in which Jackson has gone off the rails which, well, caused him to go off the rails: The infamous Orange County car chase; the various times he’s quit; and his recent series of Twitter outbursts after his UFC 144 loss to Ryan Bader.

"He’s crazy," said White. "Rampage takes losses really hard, and, I don’t know, we’ll just see what happens, see how this thing plays out."

"His potential could have been so much more. This is a crazy business, you always have these guys who think they’re getting screwed and this and that and everything else that’s happening. ‘Rampage’ wants to fight one more fight on his contract, and his last fight, and he’ll never make that money ever again for the rest of his life. A lot of those guys in the UFC don’t realize that until its too late."

UFC Notebook: Dana White Thinks Rampage 'Could Have Been So Much Better' - MMA Fighting


He is a very talented fighter. look how he was able to stop Jon Jones's takedowns early on. If he only had stuck with his boxing, had more motivation, and trained with better coaches.

[Masscore]

The worse mistake he made was going to England. He lost his wrestling base which was a huge weapon when he fought in Pride and early in the UFC. For godsakes the guy held his own with Dan Henderson in the wrestling department in their fight.

He no buisness losing to Forrest when they fought. He should have put Forrest away in the first round and it looked like he was going too after he dropped him. Then in the 3rd, 4th and 5th round when it was clear Forrest was outpointing him, he never turned to his wrestling and put Forrest on his back. After this fight he was just never the same.

[MickeyKnox]

He could have been.

It is a true shame.

Who knows when we will see another fighter with similar attributes to Rampage.

[roaddawg]

He will be ok. I really hope his movie career takes off. A true waste would be seeing him do nothing with the charisma and humor he carries. Both Page and Gina are really blessed that they don't need MMA.

I'm happy for them and would rather see them doing something they really like.

[dbader08]

Originally Posted by Masscore

The worse mistake he made was going to England. He lost his wrestling base which was a huge weapon when he fought in Pride and early in the UFC. For godsakes the guy held his own with Dan Henderson in the wrestling department in their fight.

He no buisness losing to Forrest when they fought. He should have put Forrest away in the first round and it looked like he was going too after he dropped him. Then in the 3rd, 4th and 5th round when it was clear Forrest was outpointing him, he never turned to his wrestling and put Forrest on his back. After this fight he was just never the same.

I still don't know about that Forrest fight...the shots that Rampage was landing were considerably harder than the ones Forrest were landing. I still say that fight is a toss up, you could have definitely given page 3 out of those 5 rounds, with Forrest getting a 10-8 in the 2nd.

[v3xi]

The Forrest fight is simple. Look at Page in that fight then look at him in any of his other fights. Hes fat as fuck.

Page is my favorite UFC fighter, and I can assure you all on how fucking stupid he is. He has all the tools and all he does is walk forward and punch. He also doesnt know what a good MMA training camp is. I saw in one of his fight videos he can power clean 400 lbs, he can lift 205 lbs men over his head. He should have destroyed everyone in his path up to losing to Jones, its sad really.

[Y2JUBAE]

I think Rampage did what most do. HE made it. And once he made it, he stopped doing the things he did to get him there.

[Bearded Big Country]

If wishes were fishes we'd all be in the sea. We got the rampage we did and he left a mark in Pride and the UFC.

[kingrobert]

Originally Posted by Y2JUBAE

I think Rampage did what most do. HE made it. And once he made it, he stopped doing the things he did to get him there.

I totally agree. Once he became Champion he became a boxer and forgot all about wrestling. In MMA stands for mixed martial arts not boxing. When your one dimensional like him it makes it easy to prepare for. The fact that he never threw kicks also hurt him. He always went up to HW after each of his fights and never stayed in good shape. So many what ifs.

That being said he still had a dam good career