Rampage Jackson – Win, Lose or Career Over
By Christopher Jester
This Friday Quinton “Rampage” Jackson fights in his sophomore outing in Bellator against former Bellator light-heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu. Although Jackson has downplayed the significance of this tournament for his career, the reality is this is quite a big deal. Winning Friday is almost a necessity for Rampage to remain relevant. A loss here could spell disaster for not only Jackson’s career but also his value to Bellator.
Jackson first fight was about as close as a give-me you can get in mixed martial arts. Joey Beltran played his grinding game but dangerously thought he could trade with Rampage Jackson. He learned the hard way that you Jackson is still as dangerous as he was in his PRIDE days. If Christian M’Pumbu elects to play the stand-and-trade game, he will be fodder to the hungry Jackson.
The victory over Beltran was Jackson’s first win since 2011. That is a long-time for a fighter whose primary focus for fighting was influenced by the money. Well, it takes wins to make the big money and while Jackson is a draw in his own right, a losing fighter is not going to garner as much attention as a fighter who is winning.
Is he beating up cans? Not entirely. There are some good fighters in Bellator’s light-heavyweight division. One such fighter could be in his way for title contention if he gets past his own fight in the tournament. And that fighter is Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. He does not have an easy fight against Mikhail Zayats either, but if he does Rampage vs. King Mo does have a nice ring to it.
But maybe winning or losing does not matter to Rampage Jackson anymore. Just maybe he is at a point in his career that bringing in a paycheck is all that matters. Once upon a time Jackson wanted to be known as the best light-heavyweight in the world. Perhaps the realization that those days have passed has sunken in for the former UFC light-heavyweight champion. The thing that should matter the most for Jackson is still somewhat relevant.
Relevancy does play a major part in mixed martial arts. Look at the deal that Gilbert Melendez just made because of his relevancy. Any other fighter would have gotten pushed out the door without as much as a farewell pat on the back. Jackson has to win these small fights to get those paychecks he covets.
He may not care anymore about being the best in the world but he does have to win to keep bringing in the big bucks. The money that pays for his house, cars, food, etc. Losing won’t help that too much. Jackson may be at the tail-end of his career, but he has to continue to win to keep that career going. A loss at this point could spell the end of a luxurious livelihood.
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