Rampage Jackson has admitted that his descent from the top of the MMA world began when he started believing his own hype.
The legendary UFC light heavyweight champion famously dethroned Chuck Liddell in May 2007, but only defended the title once before Forrest Griffin took the title from him. He did climb back to a shot at gold against Jon Jones in 2011, but lost that effort and has struggled for form since.
During an impassioned speech for rising UFC welterweight Bryan Battle, he warned that it is crucial to maintain a high level of training. Battle missed weight for his last fight at UFC 310 after quickly coming back from a career-defining win in Paris a few months earlier.
Rampage Jackson warns Bryan Battle how his career downfall began
Battle was able to continue his winning UFC run at UFC 310, dropping a split decision against Randy Brown. But the performance concerned Rampage Jackson and Luke Rockhold, who welcomed him to their Jaxxon podcast this week.
“Fight, don't be complacent with the scale,” he told the welterweight, who used MMA as an outlet to lose more than 100 pounds and become an elite athlete. “Always push yourself harder, even if you outgrow your teammates, and coaches don't feel bad.
“I'm going to tell you something: with your personality and your skills, you can be a big star in the UFC and there aren't that many stars. It could be your time soon, right? So make sure you train really hard, I'm talking about: take it super seriously.
“I don't care if your friends tell you 'oh, you think this is you.' F*** that, you have to be selfish for a while because father time is undefeated and it will be short lived. I'm telling you, keep improving your skills.
“Don't be complacent, because it happens to the best of us, it happened to me. I was like, 'my shit doesn't stink,' and I stopped working out. I did. I was a big star and I stopped training as hard as 'f*** it'. Bro, you could be a big star.
Luke Rockhold also educates Bryan Battle on the dangers of weight loss
Rockhold also made his feelings clear, letting Battle know that he cannot allow himself to become a fighter known for struggling to gain weight. He noted that everyone gets one hall pass, but must be more serious about weight to reach the top of the sport.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
“You're about to hit the top 15, top 10 and you want to be on your toes,” Rockhold told Battle. “I mean, respect yourself and shit will come back, you can get up faster.”
The fight is currently on a four-win run, save for a No Contest in the middle for an illegal eye poke. He has only lost once under the UFC banner, and his infamous promo after UFC Paris catapulted him to an even greater level of star power.
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