One fight can change plenty.
For Quinton Jackson (28-7 MMA, 3-1 UFC), one fight changed everything.
A year ago, Jackson was the toast of the MMA world. The charismatic Memphis native was on a three-fight unbeaten streak in the UFC and had KO'd the legendary Chuck Liddell for the light heavyweight title. The outspoken, born-again Christian was a larger-than-life African-American ruling the UFC's marquee division in a sport dominated by white fighters.
Seven months later, the man nicknamed "Rampage" went on one through parts of Southern California in a very public meltdown, which played out along the streets of Costa Mesa. After fleeing the scene of an accident, Jackson led police on a chase before surrendering and being photographed sprawled out, face down on the street next to the pickup truck adorned with his life-size photo.
Jackson's life began to unravel the evening of July 5 in Las Vegas, when he lost a close, but unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin. It was a brutally difficult loss for Jackson to swallow. Many cage-side observers felt the champion won the fight or at least did enough in a razor-close contest to earn nod from the judges. Instead, Griffin became the first true "The Ultimate Fighter" contestant to win a UFC title.
Following his arrest, Jackson underwent psychiatric evaluation. With little sleep and ingesting little more than energy drinks in the period before the reckless-driving incident, Jackson was in a fractured mental state and suffering from delirium.
To hear Jackson talk today, it's as if his unabated irresponsible trip behind the wheel in July and subsequent arrest never happened. The wisecracking Jackson of old is back for an encore, fresh from a change of training-camp scenery and new management with the U.K.-based Wolfslair Fight Team.
"I'd say that my last fight probably was the best thing that happened to me," said Jackson, who spent much of his UFC 92 training camp in England. "I got rid of some old baggage and it actually made me hungrier, right? So, I started back. And, it just made me really think about my career. Like, look, I'm a professional fighter, you know what I'm saying?
"I'm a professional athlete. I've got to start eating like one. And, I never did that type of stuff. Not even for my whole career, not even protein shakes. I've got a good nutritionist and good people behind me and telling me all the good things to do and stuff I've never done before. And, this has paid off. It's showing in my work ethic and my training."
The 30-year-old Jackson has a good script, and his self-deprecating approach has a disarming way of convincing even the most ardent of skeptics. However, it's a long way from talking up a compelling game and stepping into a cage for a fight. And Jackson will do so for the first time since the loss to Griffin and his epic implosion against, perhaps, the worst possible opponent -- Wanderlei Silva -- this Saturday at UFC 92 in Las Vegas.
Silva has all but owned Jackson. The Brazilian put a pair of beatings on Jackson in PRIDE -- the first at Final Conflict in 2003, the second a year later at PRIDE 28. Jackson was destroyed in both bouts and left hanging through the ropes in the second match after Silva obliterated him with a series of knee strikes.
It's a credit to Jackson's toughness -- both mentally and physically -- that he didn't fold after those crushing defeats. Instead, he re-invented himself as a fighter with the help of trainer and mentor Juanito Ibarra. Jackson cut ties with Ibarra in August, using a go-between to deliver the news to the once father-like figure in his life.
"Since last August, I got rid of all the baggage around me, and got a bunch of good people around me and good things," Jackson said. "And it’s actually working out pretty well, you know. So I'm pretty happy with how everything is turning out."
While the circumstances and those around him are different this time, Jackson is hoping for a re-boot similar to the one he experienced with Ibarra at his side. While every fighter says his next fight is the biggest of his career, in Jackson's case, that's not hype, that's reality. A loss at this point in his career could be devastating, especially since he’s still facing potential jail time on two felony counts stemming from the reckless-driving incident.
Had Jackson been given a chance to face Silva a third time as UFC champion, riding the high of his breakout year in 2007, he would have entered that fight in a very different mental state. Now, Jackson faces the bout against his nemesis with the backdrop of not only a loss, but also truly life-altering events. Intriguing to say the least. But, for Jackson, he's taking a measure of confidence into the fight, believing he's a different fighter than the version Silva faced in PRIDE.
"Honestly, I knew that I'd see Wanderlei again, especially as soon as he signed with the UFC," Jackson said. "It was inevitable. And I don’t see this as revenge. Revenge is a dangerous motive. This is my job. This is my fight. This is my career. This is my life.
"Those first two times happened. It didn't have the outcome that I wanted to have, but this is my time to make it right in my mind. Fighting when I'm a little bit better. I'm a little bit older and more mature now. I'm a lot better with my skills and everything. So I feel like this time right here, this is the time where I can go and give it my all, my 100 percent. This is my time right here to go and do it."
Spoken like a true champion. We'll find out Saturday night if Jackson can still fight like one.
