Could Rampage Jackson Leave the UFC?

The rift between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and the UFC appears to be growing, with a post Tuesday at Rampage-Jackson.com suggesting that the former light heavyweight champion could be leaving MMA for good.

Under the heading "I'm Done Fighting," a post attributed to Jackson himself airs several grievances that Jackson has with the UFC, all stemming from the UFC's reluctance to support Jackson's acting career. Jackson recently pulled out of a scheduled fight with Rashad Evans to instead take the part of B.A. Baracus in next year's A-Team movie.

The post (which can be read in full here) has been picked up by prominent MMA web sites including Bloody Elbow, MMA Weekly and MMA Junkie, and it's the talk of the MMA world. But is Rampage really leaving the UFC for good?

I don't think he is.

I think Rampage is upset with what he perceives as the UFC attempting to hold back his acting career, and I think Rampage thinks he can make more money in acting than he can in the UFC. Although UFC President Dana White is right when he says Rampage would make more money for fighting Evans than he would for being in The A-Team, the thinking from Rampage's camp is that The A-Team has the potential to be a huge hit, one that could make Rampage millions of dollars from a sequel, merchandise and other related income streams.

And I think White's anger -- though absolutely justified, considering that Rampage had already agreed to fight Evans -- was expressed too publicly. UFC fans love White because he says what he thinks and doesn't hold back, but Rampage felt that White disrespected him publicly by belittling his acting aspirations. So now Rampage isn't in the mood to go through a rigorous training camp, cut weight and expose himself to injury, all to put more money in the UFC's coffers.

But I believe that will change, because Rampage will want to put more money into his own coffers, and fighting -- not acting -- is what Rampage does best. Rampage has a unique talent and is one of the best fighters in the world. He won't want to leave that for good.

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