Rampage Jackson Defends 'Gay' Comments, Tells All to 'Lighten Up'

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson says his "gay" comments come from a place of fun and not hate, the former UFC light heavyweight champ wrote late Sunday on his official Web site in response to recent criticism received for comments made in a L.A. Times report.

"Yes, and like most straight guys I joke around with the whole gay thing and I see it as comedy, not saying that's right or wrong but I don't do it out of hate," Jackson wrote.

In his blog, Jackson claims that the media chose to paint him as a "gay basher" instead of his turning his life around after his arrest in July 2008 for a wild car chase -- which Jackson says he would repeat since he saved a life of a friend that day.

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Jackson then compared the struggles of gay rights with his own history of growing up in the south.

"I am a black man from Memphis Tennessee who grew up in the south where I faced discrimination my whole life," he wrote. "I know very well how it feels for someone to judge you for something you have no control over so having gone through that I know how it feels. I took a vow that I didn't even have to say that I would never discriminate against anybody for anything other that how they treat me or others around them. So not only DO I NOT HATE gay people, I actually accept them for who and what they are."

Jackson said he wasn't aware he was being interviewed when the interviewer was present when a crew member and friend of Jackson's poked fun at Jackson with a poster of Jackson promoting a friend's gay bar.

"When I did this interview the interviewer witnessed my friend giving me s--t and calling me gay," Jackson wrote. "I was so embarrassed and didn't want my ego tainted because I'm a big tough fighter. So yes, I got quite defensive and I'm known to be the best s--t talker in my business and a fighter in all aspects in life. So I made fun of him back, calling him gay."

Jackson closed his post with a message encouraging positivity.

"EVERYBODY LIGHTEN THE (expletive) UP! LET'S HAVE FUN! THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW! THERE'S TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY IN THIS WORLD, SO LET'S JUST FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE THINGS AND I GUARANTEE IF WE DO THAT THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER!"

Check out Jackson's entire blog post here (registration required).
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