It is easy to understand the outrage across the Internet with Rampage missing weight for his UFC 144 showdown with Ryan Bader. However, this interview following the weigh-ins with Jackson does provide some clarity to a polarizing situation.
Rampage Jackson continues to be one of the most polarizing fighters in the UFC. Unfortunately for Jackson, the haters will speak much louder after he screws up, including missing weight for a fight. Jackson has the unfortunate timing of missing weight while the topic is still red hot following Anthony Johnson’s incident in Brazil.
Jackson spoke to his new wing man Ariel Helwani following the weigh-in and offered a very plausible explanation about the missed weight. Jackson tells Helwani that he suffered an injury in camp which prevented him from doing the necessary cardio to cut weight. He claims the injury is healed and expected to make weight, but was surprised when he found out he gained weight coming over to Japan. He also says that the injury has healed and he is ready to fight.
If Jackson is telling the truth (and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt), you have to feel for the guy. Jackson begged to fight on the card after being left off the original lineup. Faced with the choice of pulling out of the show or going on knowing that he may miss weight and his cardio could be off, he opted to fight through the injury and take a shot at making weight. For all of the criticism he is getting, he could have just as easily pulled out of the fight and he didn’t.
Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin called Jackson missing weight “ridiculous.” Jackson was very upset about this and threatened Franklin in the interview with Helwani. It is a tricky call for Franklin. The first instinct is to bash Jackson, but as a fighter you’d hope that Franklin would at least reach out to Jackson’s camp for an explanation before jumping all over him. Or, maybe we have ourselves a grudge match in the making?
Affliction Frankie Edgar Smash UFC 144 Walkout T-Shirt
MMA ELITE UFC 144 Rampage Jackson Walkout T-Shirt [Black]
New Items Marked Down! Shop the UFC Sale
UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson Program
UFC shirts and videos on Amazon.com
UFC Store: Free Shipping on orders over $50 – No Code Needed