Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson didn't often come face-to-face with UFC bosses during his time with the promotion, but once had what he said was the best “sickest contract in history.”
The legendary light heavyweight became a huge star during his run with Pride in Japan, and brought that fame to the octagon later in his career. And when he knocked out Chuck Liddell in a historic world title rematch, he shot to another level.
In a recent podcast episode, he and co-host Bear Degidio explained how his contract for the Liddell rematch and subsequent bonuses earned him an astronomical payout. He even received checks for residual income for years.
Rampage Jackson explains how the fight with Chuck Lidell earned him a monster payout
Speaking to Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold for his Jaxxon podcast, Rampage Jackson revealed that he made a whopping $7 million during Chuck Liddell's rematch in the UFC. This was after his contract was purchased with another company, giving him pay-per-view points for the show.
“After the Chuck fight, before he knew about my pay-per-view deal,” Rampage said of Dana White, with whom he has had a tumultuous relationship over the years.
“I guess he didn't know because they bought my contract from WFA when they bought that whole show. I had the sickest contract deal in UFC history, I guarantee it. It was big.”
Rockhold agreed with what Jackson had said, before Degidio blurted out that he had earned a total of $9 million for the fight. He was then corrected and Jackson added: 'It wasn't $9 million, it wasn't nine, my family was watching this s***.
“It was $7 million, it wasn't $9 million. It was over time that the checks started coming in for years with the pay-per-views.
Since the fight took place in 2007, adjusted for inflation, that would mean Rampage made over $10 million in terms of 2024 money. However, if his payments were spread out over the years, that complicates how you would adjust in modern terms.
Rampage Jackson got in trouble for telling the media about Dana White's secret bonuses
After the Liddell fight, Jackson felt like he was doing the right thing by letting anyone who would listen know that Dana White had taken care of him with a big bonus on top of his wallet. But publishing that information was not a good move and caused a rift in their relationship.
Earlier in the podcast, Rockhold and Bisping noted that they would occasionally receive bonuses of up to seven figures for their performances in big fights. But Rampage noted that it was not wise to talk about those payments.
Photo by Kent Horner/WireImage
“He only gave me one bonus,” Jackson explained. “And because I said something about it, Dana never gave me one again. I asked him 'Dana, why don't you ever give me another bonus? Is it because I said something about it?' And he said yes.
“He only gave me one bonus when I knocked out Chuck, and my bonus for that was more than my entire wallet… I talked Dana up because I was the outsider from Pride coming to the UFC and that was like my second fight there and he gave me a bonus.
“I thought I was doing well because he gave me a bonus and I thought, 'Dana is cool, he gave me a bonus.' He never told me I couldn't talk about it, he just told me not to give it to my manager, he couldn't stand my manager at the time.
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