“I’m the biggest Conor McGregor fan… I really like what [McGregor] brings to the sport and entertainment, what he does for the sport.” Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson admitted on the JAXXON podcast that he’s a fan of ‘The Notorious One,’ whose promotional prowess became the very reason a majority of fans are watching the UFC in the late 2010s. Currently, Alex Pereira, Ilia Topuria, and Jon Jones are among the top cash cows in the promotion. However, a second Conor McGregor? We’re yet to see that.
The former double champ, in terms of promoting a fight, is unparalleled! His press conferences and pre-fight antics, loaded with verbal highlights, took care of most of the marketing. “Who the f–k is that guy?” cinematic gold at UFC 205 at the expense of Jeremy Stephens. Or the classic, “I just want to say this from the bottom of my heart. I’d like to take this chance to apologize… to absolutely NOBODY! The double champ does what he wants!” after becoming the first man to hold two UFC belts at the same time.
All of this has translated well into cash for the UFC! Remember that McGregor previously held the record for the highest UFC gate in history with UFC 205 raking in 17.7 million bucks. Even after he’s 4 years away from fighting, the former two-division champ transformed BKFC with his presence. So, it’s kind of obvious that he would still get the appreciation for being ever-relevant in the sport.
And Jackson totally understands that fact! But when he was asked by MMA Junkie’s Nolan King in an interview who he sees doing a similar job in terms of promoting a fight in the UFC, he surprisingly name-dropped Joaquin Buckley. He stated, “Joaquin Buckley is great at selling fights. No one is better than Conor McGregor at selling fights. He hasn’t fought in a while. Who else is great at selling fights right now? Well, I don’t know who else is, those two for sure.”
‘Rampage’ definitely has an eye! ‘New Mansa’ is doing some amazing stuff to keep his fights high stakes and interesting. Remember the UFC St. Louis weigh-ins? Joaquin Buckley walked onto the stage like a drunk man—a moment many fans linked to Ryan Garcia’s bizarre weight miss against Devin Haney. And after torching Colby Covington at UFC Tampa, he got the entire crowd to matchmake his next opponent. These are subtle attempts he does captivate the audience. Also, the situation between him and Ian Garry is also catching heat.
The former 205-pound champ also, interestingly, brought up Derrick Lewis a moment later. While he admitted ‘The Black Beast’ doesn’t do much in terms of pre-fight promos like Buckley, he gave him credit for being naturally hilarious. He added, “Derrick Lewis is also very entertaining and stuff, but I’ve never seen his pre-fights and stuff. I see Joaquin Buckley, I see him posting and stuff like that, and I never see Derrick Lewis posting pre-fight stuff or his interviews afterwards. But the guy is hilarious, I would love to meet him.”
October 4, 2024, Salt Lake City, Ut, Salt Lake City, Ut, United States: Joaquin Buckley steps on the scale for the ceremonial weigh-ins at the Salt Palace Convention Center for UFC307 – Pereira vs Rountree Jr. on October 4, 2024, in Salt Lake City, UT, United States. /PxImages Salt Lake City, Ut United States – ZUMAp175 20241004_zsa_p175_086 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex
A podcast between those two? Absolute comedy gold! Well, talking about in-ring competition, Jackson was originally set to face Rashad Evans in a boxing match on April 12, but the fight was ultimately canceled, something he believes was due to shady promoters behind the scenes. He was genuinely excited to step into the ring for the first boxing match of his career. Now that the bout has fallen through, he’s still reflecting on his future and hoping to wrap up his martial arts journey with at least one proper boxing fight.
Rampage Jackson wants to have a boxing fight to complete his martial arts journey
Quinton Jackson has built a diverse portfolio across multiple martial arts platforms. He was a major part of the legendary PRIDE era before transitioning to the UFC, where he found considerable success. Later, he made his way to Bellator and eventually stepped away from MMA in 2019. After six years, he was set to settle an old score against Rashad Evans at ICS Mania 1, hoping to avenge a decade-old loss. However, he believes another boxing match will be good before his retirement.
He told Nolan King in the same MMA Junkie interview, “You know, it might just be last boxing match for me. Do I wanna just give away for free, or do I make a bag on my way out? It’s like one of those questions, you know, who knows? I’m not asking for the world here, but I know when I fight, it’s going to be an entertaining fight, no matter whether I win or lose, it’s going to be an entertaining fight.”
With the Evans fight falling through, ‘Rampage’ was understandably disappointed. Still, the 46-year-old remains as driven as ever, and he’s now eyeing a boxing match, something he sees as a necessary final chapter in his martial arts journey. He added, “I just want to box because I’ve done wrestling, I’ve done jiu-jitsu, and I’ve done muay-thai, kickboxing fights. My last art that I never done was boxing. So, it was like a thing for me that I have to do all of my arts just one time of fighting all the arts. I’m a mixed martial artist.”
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in action—but what do you think? Would one more boxing fight, maybe against a legend from his era, be the perfect send-off before he calls it a career? Let us know your thoughts in the comments
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