Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been speaking about turning down the chance to compete for the title in just six weeks time at UFC 128 in Las Vegas, Nevada, explaining there simply wasn’t enough time for him to prepare, especially considering he’s 250 pounds right now.Speaking via MMAJunkie.com, Jackson said:
“I don’t care who the opponent is. I’m not taking a fight on four weeks’ notice. It’s not enough time to get ready for a five-round fight. Dana knows that. And ‘Shogun,’ he’s a fighter, and he should know that. He shouldn’t even go and say [expletive] like that with him being a fighter. He saw me at the fight this weekend. Everybody saw how big I am.”
“I’m just doing maintenance training right now. I just started back. I fought right before the holidays, and I went on vacation to see my family and took my kids to see their family in Japan. I’ve been living my life, so I gained a lot of weight. I’m a natural fighter. I don’t do any drugs, and I don’t know any high-performance drugs, so I have a natural body. My body gains weight when I don’t train and I don’t eat like I’m in camp.”
“I’m 250 pounds, and I would have to lose 45 pounds in, what, three or four weeks? The first time I fought ‘Shogun,’ I was injured going into that fight, and it’s haunted me all the way up to now. I always believed the second time I fight ‘Shogun’ that I’m going to be close to 100 percent as possible.”
“I don’t want to have a rushed camp and have a last-minute fight to fight someone who’s already beaten me. Even if they offered me Forrest (Griffin) or Rashad (Evans) in four weeks, I can’t take that fight because I’m too big.”
Jackson will instead head to UFC 130 in May where he’ll take on another Brazilian in the form of talented all-rounder, Thiago Silva in the co-main event of the evening. As for Rua, he takes on the brightest prospect in the division today, Jon “Bones” Jones.
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