« Today’s chalkboard (7/15/08) | Home | TMZ: Rampage is in the hospital »
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson meets the police
By Zach Arnold | July 15, 2008
Quinton Jackson has long been a favorite of TMZ, the Hollywood gossip web site that has become a powerhouse in US media circles. He’s appeared on TMZ more times than you can count to promote himself or say wild things.
Unfortunately, he’s found himself again on TMZ, but in a much different light.
Quinton Jackson was arrested on Tuesday in California on hit-and-run charges after allegedly leaving the scene of a car accident. Kevin Iole reports that Dana White is heading to Orange County to post bail for Rampage.
Besides the criminal aspect of this case, there is also a public relations aspect to the situation. Not a very good one, either.
- The Orange County Register: Rampage Jackson arrested after Costa Mesa car chase (details added)
- The Daily Pilot: Police – ‘Rampage’ goes on one
- The AP/IHT: Former UFC champion Rampage Jackson arrested
The UFC dodged an incredible bullet here. If Jackson was injured or, God forbid, injured someone else, it would’ve been a public relations nightmare. Inexplicably, the entire sport of MMA would be on trial in the court of public opinion. Because the sport is in its infancy on the sports landscape, every incident like this is going to be magnified.
Jackson should be able to bounce back from this with little long-term damage. There are a number of athletes in mainstream sports who have done far worse things and are still competing. Of course, it’s unfortunate that this storyline has to shadow the biggest weekend of the year for the sport.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 23 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
This is not good.
Hopefully he wasn’t drinking.
Just imagine the verbal lashing he is going to receive from Dana White. You know that has to be the reason Dana is flying in.
I’m curious to see if Quinton Jackson was taking drugs or drinking? Because leaving a seen like that is a very bad career move. Very dumb!
Dana White could release him over this. Of course, that would mean Dana White would be releasing a guy a good chunk of the fan base thought beat Forrest Griffin into free agency for someone like EliteXC or Affliction to grab. Sure, Quinton could go away for 6 months or more given his prior conviction, but unless he goes away for several years, he’s in a hell of a bind.
Dana won’t release him. But that’s the last of his worries. Hit and run, followed by evading police, then hit a couple more cars along the way. Wow.
Insurance would’ve covered the accident so why run? It’s probably a DUI or drugs… At least Forrest won’t have to worry about losing the belt to the Jackson for at least this year.
If the allegations against Quinton Jackson are true, he deserves to serve a prison sentence. If they’re not true, then obviously he doesn’t.
LOL this would seem to be uncharted terrority for UFC. Correct me if I’m wrong but most drama surrounding UFC stems from submission holds held in excess, steroids found to be in use, or missing contracted weights. All those things pale in comparison to this situation. Boxing has faced multiple incidents like this outside the ring (Prince Naseem, etc) with poor behaviour, but has never had any blemish because boxers basically represent themselves. With Dana continually pushing his brand rather then fighters, I could almost see onus falling onto his shoulders, sort of like the JT fiasco. Perhaps an unpredicted fallout of his totalitarianism rule will be that Zuffa is held in higher accountibility, especially when compared to other combat sports. Dana will have some nice damage control on his hands for now. Lets see what he does with another anomaly.
With Dana continually pushing his brand rather then fighters, I could almost see onus falling onto his shoulders, sort of like the JT fiasco.
ding ding ding! See, if Dana wants to pretend that he’s just like the NFL and not, you know, merely a fight promoter, he’s gonna have to come up with some method to “punish” Rampage. He may get away with it this time, but future incursions by the law could cause sponsorship to walk out, both for TV networks carrying them and for their own rings and whatnot. I am quite excited to see what he actually does or does not do.
Man, this is just silly. Its one thing to be a blue collar dude, bumb a car, and if no one is looking, just get out of there — its another thing to be a star of the most popular upcoming main stream sport and driving a mini-monster truck with your picture on the side of it — in the OC no less, in the summer. In SoCal cops love stuff like this. Rampage, Rampage, Rampage. . .:(
Running from the cops in a monster truck = the American dream
Rampage made me a bigger fan.
I think that, if possible, Dana is going to try to get Rampage out of this situation, because he’s done the same for Chuck in the past.
But still, this is bad news, and I’d be more concerned for Rampage personally if he had been drinking (and I’d have trouble believing he wasn’t). That’s a tough demon to slay for some people.
I was ok with the whole thing until I read the part about Rampage driving over the highway divider and up on the sidewalk sending people running for their lives.
What about fighting in nevada. He is looking at multiple felonies. How will Nevada sanctioning bodies react to this next time he comes up for a fight (assuming the worst that the felonies stick)
Since when do felonies stop you from being a fighter?
The only problem it would cause is for foreign travel, so Jackson’s career would be somewhat limited.
what about the Sherk incident, where they started asking him all those questions about a bar fight that happened 10 years ago? So they started asking him those questions after a suspension, does that mean they are not going to ask anything of quinton?
I have some pics from various sources on my site for those who are interested. He’ll get everything reduced from felony and he’ll get fines/community service. No jail time, he’s a star.
All of this just days before the UFC goes toe to toe with Affliction. T-shirt guy has to be loving this, just as long as this bad publicity doesn’t make more people tune into Spike. Lets see how Dana White spins this one in his favor, if he can.
If the charges are true, he should also be suspended for at least as long as a steroids suspension would garner.
The biggest loser in all of this is Toyo Tires. If a tire can’t hold up on the freeway, sidewalk, and freeway median, you won’t be me purchasing that brand anytime soon.
“Since when do felonies stop you from being a fighter?”
I was about to say that having felonies would prevent you from being a fighter if you were incarcerated, but then I remembered former pro boxer James Scott.
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=2347&cat=boxer
Imagine if Rampage got incarcerated and Dana White decided on prison UFC cards? Dear lord…
Contract disputes and felonies. Does this mean the UFC has finally arrived as a mainstream sport?
Dana probably has a tear in his eye.
By the way, this is a complete dud as far as PR concerns go. Nobody is going to bat an eye at a traffic violation or evading the police. .
When Chuck Liddell rapes a chick, we can worry then.
I hope we don’t keep seeing this panty-waisted hand-wringing everytime a fighter gets into a legal scrap or some kind of trouble. “It’s bad for the sport! It’s bad for the sport!” Give me a break. MMA is way beyond the actions of a few fighters with bad judgment. The truth is that a certain percentage of fighters is going to have problems like this. You’re going to have your Jeremy Jacksons and your Rampage Jacksons, just like you do in any other sport.
It will NOT significantly affect MMA when the occasional knucklehead gets in trouble, so the MMA media need to quit overreacting with worry. Individual fighters may see their careers end over their indiscretions, but the sport will go on unabated. It’s time to quit mothering MMA’s “image”.