Say it ain’ t so, Rampage! According to his personal website, rampage-jackson.com, Quinton Jackson retired yesterday from fighting for good. He cites the lack of respect he receives from Dana White as well as his personal agenda of being a successful actor as his reasons for the decision. While most of us knew of the small rift in the relationship between Jackson and White over the last few weeks, this was truly a bombshell to all of us.

It started weeks ago when Jackson accepted the role of B.A. Baracus for The A-Team movie that caused him to cancel his pending fight against Rashad Evans. This movie has been works since the mid-1990′ s. Joe Carnahan is on-tap to direct with Ridley Scott producing. The cast is stacked and consists of Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, and Jessica Biel. 20th Century Fox is going to distribute the film. In a nutshell, this is no small, independent film that is a guaranteed flop. The role of B.A. Baracus is what catapulted Mr. T into the big name that he is today. This appears to be a strong, formidable film and an excellent opportunity for Jackson to cement himself as an actor. This is a chance of a lifetime.

Isn’ t fighting in the UFC a chance of a lifetime as well, however? It’ s the signature mixed-martial arts company in the world. It’ s where the best-of-the-best square off monthly and make the most money. It’ s the company that fans talk about by the water cooler. It’ s the logo that adorns clothing of men and women of all ages. When people think MMA, they think UFC. So why is it that fighters seem to come and go from there so quickly?

For Rampage, it was the appeal of being a movie star. In his blog, Rampage mentioned how he and his father used to bond together while watching The A-Team when he was a kid. Jackson mentioned how his dad had a drug and alcohol problem that put a strain on their relationship. His dad has since gone to rehab and overcome those issues. This makes this role even more sentimental to him and his family. Dana White’ s response to Rampage pulling out of his fight with Rashad to accept this role was startling.

“Guess what Rashad Evans is thinking about right now,” Dana quipped. “He’ s thinking about beating your f*cking ass. He’ s not sitting around thinking about how he and his mom used to watch the f*cking Love Boat together and he wants to get the role of Isaac the bartender.”

While it’ s probably accurate that Rashad is not sitting around thinking about the Love Boat, Rashad was under the impression that the fight would still go on. “I am going to fight Quinton, but not when I’ m supposed to. He’ s kind of getting sidetracked taking other opportunities above fighting….If it couldn’ t happen at all, I would definitely want to fight somebody else, but I know the UFC definitely has a lot invested in us fighting each other. It makes no sense for us to fight somebody else because then all that they have created is just a waste.”

Rampage remained quiet through all of this. Dana, however, would have none of that. “I’ m so mad at Rampage over this. Rampage is a guy that we’ ve obviously taken under our wings the last couple of years. We really like him and done a lot of good things for him. For him to do this to me, and pull out for this goofy A-Team movie, I’ m not happy at all. They’ re not paying him jack. He’ s giving up literally millions of dollars to play Mr. T. If you think he’ s gonna go in and say ‘I pity the fool’ and he’ s gonna become a huge, serious actor off that role, give me a friggin’ break. They got him thinking that they’re going to make this movie for nothing, and then the sequel he’ll make $20 million.” Dana then joked, “I’ll pay [Jackson] nothing to fight Rashad, and then give him $20 million for the rematch.”

Dana White has obtained the reputation of being a loud-mouth, cocky, pull-no-punches person. He’ s been known to bad-mouth his own employees for years. It’ s the way he works. He trashed Brock Lesnar before Lesnar signed with the UFC. He’ s trashed Couture, Cro Cop, Ortiz, and his newest employee, Kimbo Slice. It’ s just the way he works. People put up with it because he’ s where the money is. It’ s like comparing Vince McMahon to Dixie Carter. There is extra baggage and criticism that comes with working for McMahon; however, he is where the big money is.

Now that Rampage has retired, it has the potential to change many things for the UFC. For starters, more UFC fighters will venture out of fighting to pursue other entertainment avenues. As UFC gains in popularity and continues to obtain mainstream coverage, it’ s going to get more and more difficult to keep their fighters on any sort of schedule. Would any of us have ever though 5 years ago that Chuck Liddell would be a contestant on a nationally televised, top-rated ballroom dancing show? Rampage is full of charisma and there are many other fighters who would be appealing in a different role. Even the big money in the WWE couldn’ t keep people like the Rock or Steve Austin in the squared circle.

Second, MMA is growing so fast. Teenagers are now growing up wanting to me mixed-martial artists. Young adults are training for MMA away from their day jobs. People are retiring from their jobs and taking up MMA. See Walker, Herschel or Mayorga, Ricardo. This growth is going to spawn the need for a real rival MMA organization for the UFC. EliteXC bombed. Affliction folded. Strikeforce is currently the only hope to be that competition. Having another large company will hopefully change Dana White. Once these top-notch fighters have a legit second option that provides the same money and exposure, Dana White will think twice about mocking a guy who wants to take a movie role that reminds him of his father. Dana White will be forced to give a negative interview about a guy without dropping the F-bomb 15 times in a 10 word sentence. Dana White might need to be….professional.

It’ s time that Dana White starts understanding that it’ s these fighters who make him money. It’ s these fighters who have gotten the UFC to where it is. Fighters like Shamrock, Gracie, Severn, Liddell, Couture, Griffin, ect. Those are the names that put MMA in the mainstream. Those are the names that helped the UFC sell millions of pay-per-views and have a weekly show on national TV. Until Dana White learns to treat his fighters like human beings, he’ s going to continue having this problem where guys are turning their backs on the UFC, fighting other places or accepting different roles. Maybe it’ s just going to take that one guy to clock him, a la Bret Hart/Vince McMahon.

This entire situation will have a long-lasting effect on the future of the UFC, its athletes, and its competition. MMA will not pay the bills for these fighters years after their fighting days are over. This is no union. There is no pension. They’ re on their own. These guys need to do what they have to do to continue making a living. They don’ t make the big money like boxers. A UFC main-eventer may bring in $500,000. Meanwhile, Floyd Mayweather fights for the first time in years and makes $10-million. If I were Dana White, I’ d learn to become a professional, graceful owner of a massive, multi-million dollar organization before these fighters take down his company faster then they built it.

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I know The Ultimate Fighter season just ended, but I am already pumped for the next season. Check out the first promo for TUF 10 to hit the television market. The ad features coaches Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans, and the newest UFC fighter Kimbo Slice! One look at this promo tells you everything you need to know about the dollar signs Dana White sees in Kimbo Slice.

Check out EliteXC: Street Certified – Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott on DVD by clicking here.

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 3 – Shamrock vs. Ortiz – The Ultimate Grudge

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Headlocks and Eye Gouges – I will be back on Pro Wrestling Radio Wednesday night June 24 at 7 PM/EST. Former ECW world champion, Rob Van Dam joins the show this week. Listen live and ask your questions from the chat room by clicking here.

Dana White has been making news at Spike’s VGA Awards. White announced the coaches for next season’s The Ultimate Fighter show. Former UFC light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad “Sugar” Evans will coach the teams and subsequently fight at the end of the year.

The news is curious considering that it looked like Rampage Jackson was next in line for Lyoto Machida. Jackson reportedly opted to coach the show over taking the title shot at Machida. I don’t think anyone could fault Jackson for taking a reality show over a fight with Lyoto Machida.

The coaches are curious considering the fact that the show will feature all heavyweights. Neither coach is a heavyweight, although Evans did win TUF 2 as a heavyweight. This will be Jackson’s second time coaching and Evans first stint as a coach on the television show. The coaches will fight each other with a shot at light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida on the line following the season.

To me, this show has just gotten boring over the last few seasons. I think there are too many fighters for one thing. Another thing that has tuned me out has been the coaches over the last few seasons. Dan Henderson has the personality of a banana. It’s a shame because I do think Michael Bisping is awesome, and would make a hell of a show with someone just as entertaining or outspoken.

Even Quinton Jackson was a relatively boring coach when he coached Season 7 of the show. I think a big part of that was opposing coach Forrest Griffin. He was just too nice of a guy which is a great character trait, but makes for boring competition among coaches on a television show. The two had very little beef and as much as editing tried to manipulate a situation, it wasn’t working.

The best seasons have been the ones with a true grudge between coaches. I don’t know if the magic created between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz could ever be redone. Matt Hughes and Matt Serra came close, but it didn’t have the history of Ken and Tito. I think Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir would have created great tension as coaches. Other than that, I can’t think of a natural rivalry that would translate well here between coaches.

Evans becomes the third former winner of the show to return as a coach. That is another thing that has turned me off in the past. Taking nothing away from Matt Serra and Forrest Griffin, but I’d rather see veterans with a lengthy list of accomplishments in the coaching spots. It just seemed kind of cheesy, especially when the first few seasons featured Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz, and Matt Hughes as coaches.

The dynamic between Jackson and Evans has a lot of potential for the show. Evans can be a really cocky guy. Both guys are big pro wrestling fans and get the whole idea of hyping a fight. Between their charisma and natural promo abilities, their fight has the potential to turn into the biggest grudge match of the year.

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 3 – Shamrock vs. Ortiz – The Ultimate Grudge

Get your tickets for UFC 101 in Philadelphia on StubHub.com or get 5% off the ticket purchase at PurchaseTix.com ! – Enter the Coupon Code: fiveforyou.

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