Why Rampage Turned Down Title Shot

[The Mac]

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson wants to be well-prepared when he fights Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, and taking a fight with the UFC light-heavyweight champion on short notice runs contrary to that plan.

Jackson today responded to Rua's revelation that "Rampage" turned down a title shot that subsequently was given to Jon "Bones" Jones at UFC 126. The title-fight slot opened when Rashad Evans recently went down with a knee injury.

"I don't care who the opponent is," Jackson said in an exclusive interview with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I'm not taking a fight on four weeks' notice."

The former UFC champion said he informed UFC president Dana White of his decision while attending this past weekend's pay-per-view event.

A UFC official confirmed that turn of events to MMAjunkie.com earlier today but declined to comment. Rua, though, told Tatame.com that he didn't know why Jackson declined.

"It's not enough time to get ready for a five-round fight," Jackson said. "Dana knows that. And 'Shogun,' he's a fighter, and he should know that. He shouldn't even go and say [expletive] like that with him being a fighter. He saw me at the fight this weekend. Everybody saw how big I am."

The former champ and star of the recent action blockbuster "The A-Team" recently returned to the gym and is still getting back into the groove. Jackson currently is scheduled to fight Thiago Silva (15-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at UFC 130, which takes place May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. If he had taken the Rua fight, he'd have just six weeks to prepare. Right now, he has 12 weeks until UFC 130.

"I'm just doing maintenance training right now," Jackson said. "I just started back. I fought right before the holidays, and I went on vacation to see my family and took my kids to see their family in Japan.

"I've been living my life, so I gained a lot of weight. I'm a natural fighter. I don't do any drugs, and I don't know any high-performance drugs, so I have a natural body. My body gains weight when I don't train and I don't eat like I'm in camp."

Jackson (31-8 MMA, 6-2 UFC) said taking the fight with Rua (19-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at this point would force him to focus almost exclusively on losing weight. Although he has pined for a rematch with Rua since an April 2005 loss to the now-UFC champion, the circumstances aren't right.

"I'm 250 pounds, and I would have to lose 45 pounds in, what, three or four weeks?" he said. "The first time I fought 'Shogun,' I was injured going into that fight, and it's haunted me all the way up to now. I always believed the second time I fight 'Shogun' that I'm going to be close to 100 percent as possible.

"I don't want to have a rushed camp and have a last-minute fight to fight someone who's already beaten me. Even if they offered me Forrest (Griffin) or Rashad (Evans) in four weeks, I can't take that fight because I'm too big."

So for now, he plans to focus on Silva.

[Aicle]

It's better that Rampage isn't taking that fight, that would be a toll on his body to drop weight so fast. Not only that but I don't think he exactly deserves it right now since he lost to Rashad and barely squeaked out a controversial win over Machida. Jon Jones is healthy and in shape, took minimal damage to no damage in the Bader fight so this is good.

Let Rampage get a win over Silva then maybe he can face the winner.

[Swinny]

Yeah, this is the best decision for Rampage, can't really blame him. Plus, if he beats Silva he'll probably get a shot anyway, after Rashad.

[The Mac]

rashds shot is gone imo

[mikedudelang]

Jon Jones is healthy and in shape, took minimal damage to no damage in the Bader fight so this is good.

Dude, "Bones" Jones looked AMAZING. I thought for sure Bader was have the strength advantage but that wasn't the case at all. Jones dominated that fight.

[The Mac]

i never gave bader a chance in that fight...jones had the advantage everywhere imo

[Swinny]

I gave Bader more of a chance than a lot of people did, but... it didn't work out well for him, that's for sure. Shogun is a whole different fighter than Bader though.

[The Mac]

bader fights a bad style to beat jones...but true shogun is a whole nother level of fighter

[Travicity]

Aw sort of sad but hope we get Jones vs Rampage one day for the title or contendership.

[Aicle]

I think Shogun will have alot of problems with jones, he doesn't have the best takedown defense as we have seen when he fought coleman, chuck, forrest and machida.