Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson Discloses Details on TNA, Movies, and 4-Part Reality Show

By bjpenndotcom - June 6, 2013

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson has gone through what appears to be his own fountain of youth, revitalizing a career that he had stated was on its way out. A new deal with Bellator FC has opened up a number of doors for the 34-year old former UFC light-heavyweight champ and Rampage fully intends on opening every single one. Unhappy with his career in the UFC, Rampage was extremely vocal about leaving the promotion to take charge of his own well-being. In an interview with a MMA news outlet Jackson disclosed details on the new deal that could mean big things for Jackson, Bellator, Spike, TNA, and the world of MMA.

First off, the brutal slams that Jackson had become synonymous with in Pride (and old high-school wrestling videos, one of which shows him nearly knocking an opponent out) weren’t products of Jackson’s desire to make an MMA highlight reel but instead stemmed from his passion for professional wrestling. A passion that he said started his fighting career:

“I always wanted to be a pro wrestler,” Jackson said. “That’s why I started wrestling in high school. That’s why I used to fight the way I used to fight when I was younger. I used to like to slam people and do powerbombs. Now, my dream has come true.”

Jackson also has another passion that goes along with his need to entertain, acting. Jackson famously took a break from fighting to star in the A-team film, a move criticized by fans and UFC brass alike. Jackson was looking out for #1, though and felt this was something he wanted to do with his life. Now with Bellator, Jackson states that not only does the company let Jackson explore his creative side, they encourage it:

“(Bellator) doesn’t attack you for your sponsors. They help you get sponsors. They don’t get mad at you for doing movies, they get you movies.”

As for his next potential movie role, Jackson shared that he has written several movies himself, one of which tells the story of an MMA fighter through the thought process of said fighter’s mind. Jackson has already brought his idea to Paramount in an attempt to get the film on the big screen:

“I’ve written, like, two movies, and I like them both a lot,” he said. “People can’t believe the second movie I wrote, I wrote that. This MMA movie that I wrote, it’s a fun MMA movie, and I’m not going to give it away at all. This is an MMA movie from a fighter’s mind.”

The TV time doesn’t stop there, however, along with perhaps the biggest debut of a fighter in a promotion outside the UFC, Jackson will have a four-part reality series centered around himself, chronicling his life leading up to his Bellator debut, in what will most likely be must-see TV. Spike TV President, Kevin Kay, let the news out.

As for an actual fight, Jackson has told Bellator FC President, Bjorn Rebney, that once his knees are back ‘close’ to 100% he will fight anyone they have to offer. This comes as exciting news but it also comes with a ‘caution’ label as Jackson intends to start training for his professional wrestling debut soon, a career that comes with notorious physical trauma. Jackson says his knee is doing just fine as of now, though, so only the future will tell what kind of shape he is capable of getting back in to:

“My knee is actually getting stronger really fast, because now I’ve learned how to rehab it, and I have a great team of doctors,” he said. “I’m going to start running next week. Well, my birthday’s coming up on the 20th, so I’ll probably start running a couple days after that, and I’m going to check my knee out. Before, when I was running after surgery, it was really bad for the knees. But it looks like it’s doing really good. It’s actually surprising how good it’s doing.” 

So now we as fans and media get to play the waiting game. No word on which project of Jackson’s will come first but we wish him good luck and best of health as he takes on the endeavors of a blooming athlete, even after Jackson has proved himself in his fighting prime.

 

For the latest MMA news visit BJPENN.com