Quinton "Rampage" Jackson defends against Satoshi Ishii during their fight at Bellator 157 last June 24, 2016. (Photo : Getty Images/Scott Kane)
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is one of the veterans of the mixed martial arts scene. He had his first professional bout back in 1999 and has amassed an impressive record of 37 wins and 11 losses since. Throughout those 48 bouts, he has managed to defeat big names such as Matt Hamill, Dan Henderson, and Lyoto Machida, among others.
He made his way up the ranks of Pride Fighting Championships finishing as the runner up to Wanderlei Silva in the promotion's 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix. After 32 fights into his professional career, he went on to make his UFC debut against Marvin Eastman at UFC 67. Jackson won the fight by knockout and secured a title shot for his next bout.
Less than four months later, Jackson would stop Chuck Liddell in the first round of their contest to secure the UFC light heavyweight championship. He made one successful title defense before being dethroned by Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. Eight fights later in the UFC, Jackson found himself signing on to the Bellator MMA promotion. He was expected to take on Mirko Cro Cop in his next fight.
Jackson is currently on a five-fight win streak including a successful return bout at UFC 186 and a heavyweight split decision victory in his latest fight at Bellator 157. His next fight was scheduled for March of this year. All these signs pointed to him taking on Mirko Cro Cop in a marquee matchup, but the latter retired after emerging victorious from the Rizin Openweight Grand Prix.
Now, Jackson is expected to face Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal at Bellator 175 on March 31, in a rematch of their Bellator 120 faceoff. Jackson does not seem to be a big fan of the match though, as he believes that a fight against Cro Cop would have been better for him and for the fans as well, MMA Fighting reported.
Lawal drew criticism from Jackson after his wrestling-oriented style made the fight less exciting than it should have been. Lawal repeatedly shot for takedowns and tried to win the fight by outwrestling his opposition, which resulted in the fight having less action. "I think Cro Cop would have been a more exciting fight. 'King Mo' is just [going to] try to get my legs pregnant," Jackson told the MMA Hour in an interview.
Watch some of Jackson's best moments in MMA here:
