I want to be a fan of Mixed Martial Arts, I really do. But every time they just about have me won over, something like this pops up to remind me that it may not be totally ready for prime time. How am I supposed to take a sport seriously whose biggest controversy is whether or not Quinton Rampage Jackson is going to star in “The A-Team”?
Jackson, of course, was supposed to meet Rashad Evans at the UFC 107 main event on Dec. 12 — infamous foreshadowing in the photo above and video below. But Rampage has been scrapped from the card because, according to UFC president Dana White, he has a feature role in the new A-Team movie.
And that seems to be big news in UFC circles. Some sources report that Jackson is playing the role of B.A. Baracus, made popular on television by Mr. T. MTV, however, says it’s not true, and that such reports are “nonsense” and “insane.”
Meanwhile, THE VANCOUVER SUN reports that someone in that city, where the film is currently being shot, Tweeted that she saw Jackson on the set. “Someone asked Rampage Jackson for an autograph and didn’t have a pen — I was scared for him.”
According to MMA Bay, the lightweight title fight between B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez will replace Jackson-Evans.
So anyway, we have a majorly-hyped UFC showdown going down the tubes because one of the participants wants to film a movie (most likely a crappy TV remake movie at that). And just when I thought that UFC had turned the corner: Randy Couture recently signed a deal for a clothing line with Nike.
“I was just with a bunch a guys from Nike. It was pretty cool, pretty interesting,” Couture said. “They are pretty jazzed about the sport [of MMA]. It was very cool.”
Nike is known for signing top sports figures to represent the brand, including the likes of Michael Jordan, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods. Nike’s signing of Couture would be yet another in a string of major recent boosts for MMA.
If that’s a major boost, and it is, the Jackson pullout is a major punch in the head. Especially following this:
8:46 pm on September 6th, 2009
Whats wrong with Couture signing a deal with Nike?
Hes a professional athlete, lots of them do it.
8:58 pm on September 6th, 2009
No, maybe I wasn’t clear. I listed the Couture-Nike deal as a positive for UFC … an example of them turning the corner toward the mainstream
7:35 am on September 7th, 2009
should take mmabay out of your article, they aren’t a legit mma site…they are like the tabloids of mma, or like the sun (UK)…
the 1% of actual legit mma news they do have is stolen from other sites…everything else is a complete fabrication usually with no basis (ie. LW fighter to take on HW champion, shit that don’t make sense)…
funny story also, their main “journalist” Michael Pepper, he started mmabay by joining the UFC Fight Club because he heard (and only) people from the UFC FC could win backstage passes to events. He joins and immediately contacts the UFC employee that runs the site, saying how his mom is dying from an illness and is a huge UFC fan and he joined because he wanted to take her to an UFC event before she died. Said that taking her backstage would be the greatest moment of her life…
so he gets the backstage pass from the UFC Fight Club, goes there, his mom isn’t sick, he leaves her behind and goes running around backstage taking pictures with fighters and since he’s from UK he got a few of the UK guys phone numbers, and that’s how he ended up starting mmabay (mmagay to people in the know)…
and yes, his mom is still alive and well, was never sick…
12:18 am on September 10th, 2009
Rampage needs to find his humble room. Seems like everytime he has success in the ring, he finds failures in life. He could be one of the elite in the ufc if he got with a greg jackson or American top team and truely dedicated himself to the fight game. Stop chasing movies and fight Rampage. Save movies for when he is too old to fight.