Despite being two of the best talkers in the game, there’s actually surprisingly little heat between Rampage Jackson and Chael Sonnen.
The always entertaining Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was on hand for Bellator 192’s open workouts earlier this week. There, Rampage addressed the assembled media, with Cageside Press in attendance, and talked about what a relief not having to cut to 205lbs is, as well as fighting wrestlers, and his thoughts on opponent Chael Sonnen.
Rampage told the press that he wasn’t even sure what his current weight was. “Me being a heavyweight, I know I’m under 265, so I haven’t weighed myself in a while” he said.
“Not having to worry about weight is a big stress reliever” he added. “The whole weight thing has been my downfall for a long time.” Jackson also spoke of a thyroid problem he’s been dealing with, saying he’d been to a number of specialists.
“Honestly, as I’ve gotten to know Chael, I actually like him.”
On opponent Chael Sonnen, Jackson said that while he wasn’t a fan of the notorious trash talker at first, he’s actually come to like Chael.
“I’ve had my days of trash talking with Chael Sonnen back in the UFC” Jackson said. “When I first learned about the kid, I didn’t like him. And I told him I didn’t like Chael, and I only had to threaten to smack Chael one time, and he straightened up. He’s been cool ever since.”
“I wasn’t even in his weight class and he was talking trash about me” he added. “But honestly, as I’ve gotten to know Chael, I actually like him. But when I first learned about him, I didn’t like him at all. I was like ‘this kid should be in pro wrestling.'”
For Rampage, however, the focus shouldn’t be on the talking anyway. “I’m going to do my talking in the cage. It’s a tournament, I don’t gotta talk about that and sell this fight, I gotta win this tournament. That’s what I’m focused on.”
He admits — as he has often in recent years — that he isn’t thrilled about being paired up with a wrestler. “I wasn’t excited about fighting another wrestler, after fighting King Mo’s ugly ass my last fight” Jackson stated. “Why would I want to keep fighting wrestlers? I’m 39 years old, I’ve been fighting 17 years, I want to get in the cage and entertain my fans. I want to go out there and try to knock somebody out, or get knocked out doing it.”
“All I want to do is make the fans cheer” he later added.
Rampage Jackson meets Chael Sonnen in the main event of Bellator 192 this Saturday, January 20 in Los Angels, CA.
