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Putting the pieces of the puzzle together on UFC & Rampage Jackson
By Zach Arnold | September 4, 2009
When reports surfaced that BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez was being moved to the Memphis event on December 12th, there was chatter that somehow this meant that UFC couldn’t get a network TV deal once again.
But what if the matchmaking move dealt with something far more serious?
You’ve seen the reports now claiming that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be filming the A-Team movie instead of fighting in front of home town fans against Rashad Evans on 12/12 in Memphis. If the reports are true, then Dana White’s frustration and anger in Portland over Rampage wanting to film the movie is completely and totally justified.
Since his arrival in UFC, something hasn’t totally clicked between Rampage and Zuffa. While Jackson has had some success, he hasn’t become that mega-superstar we were expecting. Chuck Liddell, Brock Lesnar, and Georges St. Pierre are all more popular than Jackson. The one upside for Jackson in filming the A-Team movie is that his name value will increase in the eyes of the general public. But that’s the only upside.
There are a lot of major downsides to this move. As a fight promoter, Dana White has invested a lot of time, energy, and money in pushing Jackson. I’ve criticized Zuffa’s tenacity in their push of Jackson on this site in the past, but I also recognize that this Fall was going to be the biggest push UFC was going to give Jackson yet. They set up their reality show around him fighting Rashad Evans and threw Kimbo Slice into the mix. The fight between the two men was set up perfectly for a ‘homecoming’ of sorts for Rampage in Memphis at the FedEx Forum, which is significantly bigger than the late Mid South Coliseum that Jackson used to watch wrestling taped at. If Rampage ends up picking the movie over UFC 107 in Memphis, it will be a move that costs him a lot. He will in essence be burning UFC by doing this, he will have wasted the time of a lot of people including Rashad Evans (who needs to bounce back after the Machida loss), and it will be a loss in terms of a fight with an opponent he can beat.
Steve Cofield asks why UFC is still going to Memphis if Rampage won’t fight on the card. The answer for this question is easy – it’s Memphis. Memphis is a town with a tremendous history for pro-wrestling and fighting. The crowd will be super-heated and will be 100% supportive of UFC.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 99 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Memphis is definitely a good move no matter what, but I had really been looking forward to seeing Rampage in front of a hometown crowd. We had the chance to see if UFC has the ability to pull a different kind of live crowd. One that’s not exclusively to predominantly white or Brazilian.
Without Rampage, you don’t have that kind of pull. Evans has a different kind of appeal than Rampage does, or at least appears to.
Maybe they both really only pull in young white males.
Guys we can’t forget that they’ve got Kimbo waiting in the wings — I think the UFC found out after “The Rampage in Newport” (that should have been the movie he did) that they will need a backup plan.
I used to enjoy watching Rampage fight in Japan. Then I heard about the DVD he did with the Japanese people making them say American curse words at the camera.
Funny? Yes, like pp jokes — but I heard about this A-Team thing 6 months ago.
It will only be worth it if Rampage does the movie then cuts a rap album and goes on tour with Jamie Foxx.
Jeremy may have a point, at UFC 88 in Hotlanta with similar demographics to Memphis, the crowd demographics were more representative of the whole state than of the city.
Rashad was also on that card, but Chuck fans seemed to be from all demographic groups.
Imagine Derek Jeter skipping a season for the Yankees to play The Green Lantern in a comic book movie. Or Kobe Bryant not playing next year due to starring role in “Fat Albert: The Younger Years”. The media would have a COMPLETE FIELD DAY with them. The same should happen to Quinton Jackson.
“Do you want to be a F#cking Ultimate Fighter?” Sounds like Rampage doesn’t want to be.
I have no problem with an athlete doing commercials or maybe doing a guest spot in a TV show in-between fights. Players do commercials all the time, and Seinfeld had a good number of Yankees players doing one off guest spots.
However, during their prime years, they need to really make a choice. Do they want to fight? Or do they want to be an actor?
Rampage has a history of not having the motivation to fight. He enjoys the big fights but hates the training to get there. This is why he lost to Forrest Griffin…. who he should have beaten to a bloody pulp.
As a fight fan, I can’t stand what Rampage is doing….
Everyone wants to cross over like Dwayne Johnson. I don’t begrudge fighters career aspirations once they can’t fight anymore, and sometimes you have to take your shots when you see them.
For fighters, there’s no “out-of-season.” If Kobe or Shaq want to record a rap album, they’ve got the time in their schedule to do that.
Seems like a double standard for the UFC to say, “Ok, we’re going to ice you for 9 months to do OUR tv show, but you can’t get three months out to go film a movie.”
@ Jeremy: But the point is that while he is a UFC employee, that’s where his first priority should lie.
It’s not like he’s taking time out from the UFC to do TUF, he’s filming, re-shoting and promoting it.
Look at it like this; Rampage wasn’t say at home, waiting for a fight to be offered and decided to do this movie in the meantime.
He was fully aware of the 24/7 specials they were planning for him and Rashad, he knew full well that the 10th TUF season would be used as a promotional tool for that fight and he knew that it was no coinsidence that the card this super-fight would take place on was pegged for Memphis.
I’m all for seeing fighters do well, it’s not like the majority of them are making enough cash to retire at 35 like many pro athletes, but loyalties have to lay somewhere.
Hopefully the upside will be that Rampage gets some serious mainstream attention through the roll and the UFC can throw together a decent PPV bout for him around the time the movie comes out.
Thats assuming he won’t drop out to play Luke Cage in the Avengers movie 😉
Seriously, good for Jackson. I heard they were only pushing it back to the end of January/early Feb. Really, that isn’t a big loss, if one of them got injured it wouldn’t be a big deal.
I know the argument will be the TUF momentum, but honestly, they plan a UFC Primetime series for this fight and that is even better.
It isn’t like they’ll lose out too bad on 107, either, as rumor has it they will scrap Mir/Kongo (seriously who cares?) for Mir/Nog.
I think we end up winning in the end.
@Brad
Actually, he isn’t an employee of UFC, exactly. I’m pretty sure UFC does independent contractor contracts for all of their fighters with exclusivity clauses.
You’d have to be a fool to pass on the Powerman role though.
If I where Rampage I would do the A-Team movie, because it’s a once and a life time chance. There will always be more fights…
David
Will Rampage go on Regis and Kelly and say it was his lifelong dream to work with Bradley Cooper?
Another reason why the UFC would be one of the lowest ranked companies in the world on those – “The companies to work for!” lists.
skwirrl,
Last time I checked, the vast vast vast majority of companies wouldn’t want somebody who worked for them to take on another job to interfered with their job obligations.
lets not forget who stood behind rampage during his roadrage incident-dana and the fertitas. they could have just as easily gave him the boot and without the ufc spotlight, there probably wouldn’t even be an ofer to do the a-team.
Oh come on now. They’re going to push a fight back 2-3 months and Rampage will get this massive opportunity in a movie. People are blowing this way out of proportion.
You titled an article “putting the pieces together” but missed all the important pieces. This will be good for the UFC and for Jackson. It’s nothing like skipping a whole season, it’s pushing a fight back from December to late January or February.
It’s also the right move for Jackson. Who knows how many peak athletic years he has left? If he can get something successful going elsewhere he won’t have to spend years getting his head smashed in while he blows all of his money.
Put yourself in the shoes of a promoter here. You book a specific time frame for a fighter to fight a big money fight against a guy who has heat with him. People want to see it and believe in the program.
You decide to make a multi-month, if not year-long commitment to push the fight. You set up the reality TV show to hype the fight between the two men. Everything is set up perfectly with Spike TV and on the PPV calendar. Barring an injury in training, the fight is set up perfect — and it’s in Jackson’s hometown, which is prime real estate for UFC to make a big splash in.
And what happens? He goes off and decides to film a movie, screwing up your timetable and instead of being able to carefully plan when the fight happens, you have to wait around because the fighter decided that Hollywood was his first priority and you were his second priority. Not only was that message sent, but he sent it after he knew what kind of push the one major MMA promotion in the world was about to give him and he still didn’t care, he still didn’t have the respect for the organization or for you. In pro-wrestling, that kind of mentality gets you permanently demoted or canned.
What this exercise ultimately means is that for UFC, they know where things stand with Jackson as far as his commitment level is concerned with the organization. The credibility of Jackson’s word to UFC is downgraded and it reflects badly upon him especially with the hometown crowd that wanted to see him so badly. If this was a situation where Jackson wasn’t booked and being heavily pushed and he got the movie offer, then I don’t have a big problem with him taking it. Instead, he takes the movie offer after he makes the commitment to fight Evans and do TUF. Foolish.
*laughs at skwirrl*
I think this is yet another example of a fighter getting bad advice from the people around him.
Rampage most likely isn’t getting paid very much for the movie. I’m sure it is less take home than he would get if he headlined a PPV and it did well.
What he has basically done is miss 9 months of fighting opportunity. His last fight was in March. He took the Summer to do the reality show. That was a good move because it set up a big money fight with Rashad that is winnable. That fight was supposed to happen in December. That means Rampage would be ready for the Lyoto/Shogun winner in April or May.
Instead he is going to have only one MMA fight in 2009. He will likely get skipped as the winner of Lyoto/Shogun will fight someone between Feb and April. Rampage won’t get a title shot until this time next year at the earliest.
He’s not going to get another shot to act in that time because he won’t be able to miss any more fighting commitments.
He probably can’t act to save his life. He’d be better to line up the acting stuff and do as many projects as he can so he can get better at it as he goes along and maybe get lucky with something being a hit.
UFC had him set up for his biggest success yet with the December fight. Don’t forget that will be coming off the heels of the Lesnar and Ortiz megashow in November and will be heavily promoted during that event. Rampage hasn’t been proven to be much of a draw yet. This fight could have done that for him.
I think when you lay out all the scenarios this is a bad move for Quinton. He may get lucky. The movie could be a hit and he could become a star. But that is the least likely outcome. The surest way to make money would be take the fight in December. Make money off the big PPV buys, set up a big money fight with Machida/Shogun winner and do acting later.
Almost everything you’ve brought up is largely besides the point. Rampage takes on a huge commitment to fight in December. Now, in the middle of it, he gets the opportunity of a lifetime (in his eyes), goes to his boss, and asks him to delay the fight for a couple months so he can do it.
Quinton went to Dana to ask for permission to do it. If he’s doing the role, he’s got that permission. There’s a reason Fedor talked about the UFC’s veto power over certain projects outside of the UFC–there’s a lot of truth to it. A number of people in the UFC think it will be a good thing, they’ll get a lot of publicity, and the fight still happens within a couple months (or less) of the original date.
I’m sure the people of Memphis will find it in their heart to forgive him. It’s easy to change show locations, they do it all the time. They’ll just rearrange their main events in the winter to push Jackson back. It’s not a big deal at all, and in the end Jackson will probably emerge as a stronger draw from all of this.
And as far as I can tell, the filming ends mid-late November. So possibly instead of December, he fights in January and gets to do this gig. If he’s really fighting by the Superbowl show, this really is a non-issue that’s been completely overblown.
My guess is he’s getting a nice check for such a big budget film, and he’ll still make the big PPV purse 2 months later.
Conan O’Brien had Brad Cooper on the other night, and Conan brought up the A Team, asking who would play B.A. Baracus. This thing is going to get a lot of press and attention, even if the movie will ultimately suck and bomb. If the delay is short, I don’t see the harm.
First Jackson turns down a title fight, now this. Yeesh.
45 Huddle, I wrote pretty much the same thing as you (swear I didn’t copy). The UFC has a right to be frustrated with Jackson.
This is still going to be a really interesting event. Memphis is probably their third great opportunity market in the last few years. Atlanta, Philly, Memphis. Together they’re ethnically more diverse than a lot of UFC’s old standbys and they have a different attitude towards event driven fight sports.
UFC’s not playing around in Sacramento or Columbus anymore (which is not to say that Columbus hasn’t turned out to be a great market for UFC), this is the real thing now.
No doubt that this is horrible timing since the TUF season will be screwed up without the coach fight pay off, although since Kimbo is the focus of the show it’s not all lost. But at the same time you can’t blame Rampage. Big opportunities like this don’t come all the time, you have to take them when they do. And he’s in his 30s so who knows how long he has left in MMA. I really doubt he’ll springboard playing Mr. T’s role into Hollywood superstardom or anything, but it could lead to some action movies to pad his MMA retirement.
And this is the biggest opportunity for MMA to look mainstream. Gina got 2 seconds in a Pepsi ad and Lesnar got heavy coverage for UFC 100, but the sport still hasn’t gotten any mainstream tie-ins on this level. As the UFC heavily promotes Chuck about to embarrass himself doing the cha-cha on Dancing With The Stars as their comic relief for the season, they should really look to the future that this could open doors for their fighters to get crossover roles to make the sport more mainstream and not penalize Jackson for doing this. What remotely compares to this in MMA? Certainly not Tito doing The Crow 3 or Randy doing Scorpion King 2.
Cung Le comes to mind, although he’s not much of an MMA fighter (all wins, but not many fights).
As a fan, I’d rather see him fight Rashad than star in a movie that, at best, is going to top out in the 40% range on Rottentomatoes.
But as long as this is a one-time thing and he doesn’t make a habit of it, I’m fine with it. If I was the UFC I’d be peeved.
Zach Arnold hit the nail on the head with this one. It would be bad enough if it was just a regular fight. But the fact that the entire season of TUF is built around this fight really messes things up. Even a 2 to 3 month delay as Mike Rome talks about, puts everything out of wack. There is a window of opportunity and momentum that builds up to a big fight. Quinton taking this role messes up months of planning.
That is irresponsible, plain and simple.
@ Dave: Ok, so he’s not an ’employee’ in the legal sense, but they are his primary employer, paying him to fight, film a TV show, do promotional work etc.
He’s not done anything legaly wrong here, but its a low blow to a promoter that is doing everything it can to make him a star.
Are the UFC going to have to start putting guys on salary to make sure they aren’t taking on other projects?
Maybe some blame can be based on Dana and co with this…if they have such a heavy investment in the Rampage/Rashad happening, why didn’t they get the bout agreements signed earlier?
On another note, does anyone think that Adrenaline MMA is going to be as mad that Tim Sylvia is going to be the next Jason in the upcomming Friday the 13th sequal?
I’m looking forward to a fat, mutton-chopped Jason that dies in the first nine seconds of the movie 😉
It’s undeniably a slap in the face to Zuffa. Rampage would be nothing in the U.S. and wouldn’t be getting movie offers if not for the UFC and its TV exposure. They didn’t have any other mob collectors from Memphis up for the role. That’s what Rampage would still be doing if it weren’t for MMA.
Sure he made his name in PRIDE. But Japanese movie companies weren’t beating down his door to give him opportunities.
On one hand I say good for him. Because I think his time in MMA has come and gone. I think he’ll beat Rashad, lose to whomever has the 205lb belt and then fight some big money meaningless fights with Randy, Tito, Coleman, maybe Forrest again. There’s plenty of money for him to be made in MMA. But as far as relevance to the top of the division, not so much. So maybe this all works out for the best.
But as a man he should be fighting Rashad in December. There will be plenty of other token black guy roles in Hollywood movies he could take later. I looked on IMDB and apparently rappers Common and The Game were previously considered for the role. It’s probably got about 8 one liners throughout it for the B.A. Baracus character. Though Liam Neeson is playing Hannibal, so they followed the original in putting a serious actor in that slot. I loved Narc by Joe Carnahan, so maybe this’ll be a fun movie.
Ugh, the pitchforks and torches are out for Rampage by the usual angry mob. And for no reason. He isn’t turning his back on the UFC, he’s delaying the fight a few months. And for crying out loud, Matt Sera and Matt Hughes had 2 seasons of show air from the time their season ended until the time they finally fought, and they still got a good buyrate. Jackson-Evans won’t even have one TUF season come out by the time they fight.
The “You can get other token black guy roles later” is a stupid argument. Whether the movie sucks or not doesn’t matter, it’s going to be heavily pushed as a blockbuster, and while most summer blockbusters are mind numbingly stupid like Transformers and GI Joe they still make tons of money and those who star in them are more likely to get other roles in similar films. It’s probably going to suck but it’s probably going to make more than Randy’s “The Elderly Expendables” movie with the other 50 year olds.
Yes, Rampage will not be the focus of the film, but he’ll probably steal the show like Mr. T did (very few people can name the other cast members of A-Team besides Mr. T without looking it up) so he might end up making more money through acting than fighting. And why shouldn’t he care more about where he’s going to end up than his company. As a fighter in his 30s, he’s coming close to the age where he’s about to lose a step and get endless “Rampage sucks now he should retire” calls. The UFC will cut him in a heartbeat when he’s of no use to them, so why shouldn’t he look out for himself? Should The Rock have stuck around kissing Vince McMahon’s ass needlessly when he makes way more money doing less acting, just because “he made him”? Of course not.
This slap in the face stuff is nonsense, they’re going to push a fight back by like 6 weeks or 2 months.
Why should he be required to dedicate his entire life to the UFC? It’s his job, but it also has a limited shelf life, and he’s pursuing an opportunity that could eventually land him further roles and a career once he’s done.
Every single fighter in his position with a similar opportunity would do the same thing.
All you people are saying all this stuff as fight fans. You are angry that Rampage is doing this to the UFC and to you guys, the fans.
In reality, Rampage should do whats best for Rampage. And I think there is certainly an argument to be made that this move is best for his career. I’m just saying one could certainly argue that a big role in a high-budget blockbuster-type movie could be huge for one’s financial future.
Dana White and the UFC simply are not looking out for the fighters, and when Dana says “Its his job to be a fighter” he is really way off base. Rampage’s only responsibilities as a person are to provide for his family and secure a future for himself and his family financially. Period.
So to say he should fight because he has some responsibility to UFC or the fans is a little much. Its not like he is taking off 2 years like Cung Le. He is making a strategic decision to earn more money and possibly open up a new income stream in acting. When he is 40 or 50 years old, where are Dana White and all the fans going to be? Are they still going to be paying him?? I dont think so. Things like royalties and theoretically a career in entertainment may be his best option to make a living, and he is paving the way (in theory) for that right now.
You guys are just being selfish. Plain and simple. So many fighters have been spit up and chewed out by the fight game, and what do they have to show for it? The love of the fans doesnt pay the bills forever. These fighters are human, they are not above having to pay bills and provide for their family until they die. This is a typical Dana white move disrespecting fighters and their rights. What a scumbag.
Good for Rampage. This will make him a LOT more popular and that popularity will carry over when he leaves or his fired by Zuffa.
If Zuffa doesn’t want him choosing a movie over a Memphis date, pay the man more money. He doesn’t fight cheap.
Who is actually asking for the A-Team movie? It was barely a blip on the radar of 80’s TV…the 18-30 demo probably wouldn’t be able to more than vaguely remember it being on TV and I doubt there’s anything more than a cult following, if at all.
I hate Hollywood.
Zach weren’t you also skeptical of the UFC’s push of Brock Lesnar? Unless I’m mistaken, I believe you said that given Brock Lesnar’s troublesome bridge burning history (WWE and NJPW or whatever fed he was in), it was very likely that history could repeat itself with the UFC and that it may not be a good idea for Zuffa to put so much faith in him.
At the end of the day, a lot of guys in this business (and in pro wrestling) are shady as hell. If there were no second chances for characters with a checkered past, you’d have to write off a lot of people in this industry (and also pro wrestling).
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/08/26/quinton-rampage-jackson-is-not-ba-baracus-in-the-a-team/. He is not doing the movie. And if he was what is the big deal? Hey a fighter making a living for him and his family, without getting his head bashed in. What is the problem with getting mainstream exposure and setting up a career after fighting? And exactly how does a fighter being in a movie hurt the UFC? This site really seems to bash everything Rampage does and I don’t understand it.
“Who is actually asking for the A-Team movie?”
Not me. The “Dukes of Hazzard” movie sucked and so will this piece of shit. It won’t be as bad as “Red Belt,” but it will suck just the same.
That MTV.com story is from a week and a half ago (8/26/09). The update on 9/5/09 from Dave Meltzer, who is tight with Zuffa management, is as follows on his web site:
“–Regarding the Quinton Jackson stuff, we did get it confirmed that Quinton Jackson pulled out of the 12/12 show in Memphis and there is no date for the Rashad Evans match to be rescheduled for. That confirms Jackson did get the Mr. T role in “The A-Team” movie. In the war between MTV and The Sun, well, MTV looked bad here.”
The real behind the scenes Hollywood story is probably that the A-Team script is so bad Common and The Game’s people didn’t wan them to be in it. So along comes Rampage and Hollywood hopes MMA fans will be suckered into seeing this mess. How on earth could an A-Team movie be any good? I could see a new A-team tv show being silly fun. But not a movie.
@ Mike Rome: I don’t think that anyone is saying that Rampage should devote his entire life to the UFC, or that he should never do movies.
That is being questioned here is Rampage’s loyalty to the UFC. No other promoter would have put him on two seasons of a weekly TV show, the exposure from which has likly led to him being considered for movie roles in the first place.
Movie roles will always be there… Keith Jardine is in Gamer, which is comming out this month, Tim Sylvia will be playing Jason, neither has an ounce of the charisma that Jackson possesses…Rampage could have taken something in early 2010.
Again, noone is saying that he shouldn’t do movies, I’m certainly not. But if you can’t see how doing a movie *at this time* is a low blow to the UFC, then you must have a skewed view of loyalty.
Lets be honest, after nine seasons and only two or three ‘stars’ created (Forrest, Rashad and internationally Bisping), it’s safe to say that TUF is not a talent search as such, it’s more of a big UFC infomercial, both for the brand and the ‘coach fight’ that takes place a week after the finale.
How many of the casuals who are tuning in for the first time for TUF 10 do you think will hang around and buy the Rampage vs Rashad PPV if it doesn’t happen untill Feb/March next year? Certainly not as many as if it were on a week after the show.
@ Detective Roadblock: You’re just making assumptions there. Maybe it’ll be rubbish, like ‘Dukes’ or maybe it’ll be silly fun like ‘Starsky and Hutch’, unless you’ve seen the script, you’ll have to wait and see. Beides, this type of movie doesn’t have to be ‘good’ to make money, which is why it’s being made.
By all accounts The Game and Common were lobbying pretty hard for that part, because the publicity from it will no doubt be massive.
@ The Gaijin: Of all the 80’s franchises that could be a success, the A-Team has the broadest appeal.
Here in the UK, the A-Team has been on some form of TV (Analog, Cable, Satalite or Digital, continuously since it’s original broadcast. If that’s not lasting appeal, I dont know what is.
Interesting how badly panned Rampage’s last TUF season with Forrest was and now it is critical to the success of the UFC that his next season be immediately followed up with the fight.
Loyalty???
Read my earlier post.
Dana and UFC will drop Rampage like a bad habit once he is no longer making them money.
How is that for Loyalty????
YOU have a skewed view of reality if you think Rampage owes anything to Dana White and the UFC.
They are putting him “on a weekly TV show” because it will ultimately make them money. PERIOD.
Dont be so naive. Loyalty?? HA!! This is the fight game. Do you how many fighters in history have been “loyal” to their promoters, only to get dropped and INSULTED by the promoter the second he lost or wasn’t making money??
I’m not saying a guy like Tim Sylvia had tons of other offers or was even that good, but he was certainly “loyal” the UFC and once he started losing he was cut and then blatantly insulted by scumbag Dana White. Thats what “loyalty” to the UFC gets you.
And I know, some of you will just say “Thats business. Dana White is a good businessman.” I’ve heard you people say this before… Now when Rampage makes a good business decision, he isn’t “loyal” enough. Please. Its a two way street. Business is business.
I agree with every single word sputtered bu sammyscaff. Screw loyalty. What has loyalty got for most people? In WWE the only wrestler who got anything out of loyalty to Vince McMahon is The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels to a degree. Quinton Jackson should do what is best for him, not the UFC. Same for all fighters. He owes us nothing. I’ll admit, an A-Team movie will be garbage and I will refuse to see it, but that is completely irrelevant.
Sports fans area wacky bunch, let me tell ya. When a player (could be football, baseball, etc.) leaves their team for another team because they offered more money the fans go for their heads, and bring up the “loyalty” card. PLEASE! Not even indy wrestlers have “loyalty” to the promoters that book them. As long as they show up to wrestle and commit to those bookings, then there should be no problem.
Good for Jackson. It will be awful to my eyeballs and ears, but whatever.
I agree with what you’re saying about loyalty between promoters and fighters, but it’s a bit different if Jackson actually signed a bout agreement to fight on 12/12/09 and then backed out of it for a reason other than an injury, especially given that this is the same man who just turned down a title fight against Machida.
A couple of points:
Fans of the sport do tend to get upset when an athlete in his prime turns his back to go Hollywood. There’s a saying that basketball players want to be rappers and rappers want to be basketball players. Hardcore fans have a tough time understanding why their favourite athletes want to diversify their interests. Jason Taylor tried it a couple of years ago when he went on DWTS and forced his way out of Miami into a bigger market.
I’m all for Rampage looking after his own interests. But the UFC really should have locked him down with some sort of preliminary bout agreement so this would not even have been an issue.
Sometimes these types of issues are a big deal or not a big deal depending on the mood of whoever’s in charge that day – it can really be a flip of the coin. Both arguments I’m seeing are valid.
One thing in the UFC’s defense – I would imagine Rampage owes Dana a little something for all of the support after his monster truck fiasco. He got off rather lightly, which I’m sure would not have happened without a good word from his employer. But again, Dana may have just let Rampage go with the promise that the fight would not be delayed very long.
I’m not positive of this, but I believe the UFC could have vetoed this if they wanted under the contract, but chose to let him do it and delay the fight.
Exactly, dont blame Rampage if he was legally allowed to do this. If it didnt violate the bout agreement or his contract, then its the UFC’s problem.
As for Dana’s support after the truck incident, that is a decent point, but I dont think that had anything to do with the Judge and/or Prosecutor’s decision. I honestly dont think Dana White has THAT much sway.
I haven’t seen the contract Rampage is singed to. I’ve seen several other UFC contracts. Including those of a fighter who is higher profile than Rampage. UFC contracts bar fighters from all kinds of things specifically other sports, bjj, wrestling, pro wrestling, boxing, point sparring, tkd, karate and a few other specifics. The do not however bar a fighter from being in a film. The other stuff you have to get permission to do.
I’ve been out of the business for over a year. Guys were being asked to sign contracts where they had to get Zuffa permission before doing interviews back in Winter of ’08. Not sure what the status is of that now. It was never really enforced to my knowledge.
Because these guys are independent contractors it is difficult if not impossible legally to bar them from doing film or TV. Since those aren’t the principal interests of Zuffa. But any kind of combat sport including Pro Wrestling is banned, because that can be considered competition to UFC and could hurt the UFC’s business if the fighter lost.
Anyway, long story short, unless the contracts changed Rampage can quit his job and go work in movies just like you or I could.
I’m aware of the legal issues, I was told though that within the last 6 months they inserted clauses that would give them the “right” to approve and disapprove certain outside projects.
Of course, the right itself is highly questionable and I don’t think it’s something that can be signed away.
performing badly, they wouldn’t be so loyal to him.
Whoops, that last sentence got cut off. What I had originally was that I’m baffled that all these people are demanding Rampage be so loyal to the UFC and refuse to take a life-changing opportunity that will delay a fight only a short amount of time. If Rampage all of a sudden lost a step and started performing badly, the UFC wouldn’t be so loyal to him.
If there isn’t a clause yet giving them certain approval rights over outside deals, they will surely try to add one now. I don’t think such a clause is enforceable for independent contractors, but then again Zuffa’s priorities with their clauses has never been how they will hold up in court.