When I heard that Rampage was going to be in the new A-Team movie I was mad. Not because I thought it would affect UFC 106 or any other event for that matter but because I thought it was a stupid choice. Look, Rampage is funny, he is talented, and he is charismatic but I am not convinced that any of those things are going to translate well to the big screen. That was nothing compared to how upset I was when I found out that Rampage would first postpone his bout with Rashad Evans and then strait up retire for the part. I am not saying Rampage is scared, far be it for me to accuse him of that, but it does seem to be a fight the MMA world is ready for and Rampage seems to rank it fairly low on his priority list. There are three big ramifications to this decision.
First of all, I think the UFC has got to lose a little respect for Rampage. Zuffa has to be scratching its collective head. Is this the same Rampage Jackson that they bailed out of jail and supported with a legal team when he got hopped up on energy drinks and took his monster truck bahaing in Los Vegas or Los Angeles or one of those big Loses? They stuck their neck out for him and his big mess fell by the wayside. You think that would have happened if it were a major figure in a more popularly accepted sport? Answer: nope. Jackson turning down the first fight with Rashad is completely understandable but this fight was booked well in advance and was given an entire season of The Ultimate Fighter to lube up the hype machine. Rampage pushing the fight back and then pulling out of the UFC at this point at this point doesn’t even allow the UFC to replace him. It leaves Rashad hanging, it leaves the UFC hanging, it made Dana and Joe Silva scramble to reassemble cards at the tail end of the year, and it left TUF season 10 with no pay off. Business is business and Rampmage has to feed himself and his family but from where I sit it seems like one would want to pay back the company that saved your ass, even if it meant passing on a perfect nitch movie role.
This will extend beyond Rampage and UFC 106. Don’t expect coaches to start seasons of TUF with verbal agreements to fight anymore. The UFC took Rampage’s word (as well as Rashad’s) that he would fight after the season was done and then booked an entire event around Jackson fighting in his home town. I expect verbal agreements are going to be followed very closely with signed contracts from here on out. The UFC has gotten into the business of planning months in advance lately, which requires them to switch things up a lot before making official announcements. This really only affects the dorks like myself who are interested in rumored fights 5 months before they happen but Rampage’s actions will likely affect fighter contracts. If fighters are interested in taking movie deals or being flexible about their fights, they may have the UFC brass to contend with. Keep an eye on the way fight contracts play out as a result of this.
Let me be clear, I don’t think this is the last time we have seen Rampage in a UFC cage. No one I have talked to really believes that. At the end of the day I just think it is a bad idea. Sure, Rampage wants to make his own star and this will likely make his fights more lucrative in the future, but the UFC is a business that makes its money on its brand. Certain fighters will always make more for the company than others but at the end of the day its UFC and then a number. Its brand first, sport second, fighter third. While Rampage will get plenty of publicity for the move and the roll itself, I tend to think Rampage would have been better off overall if he simply took this fight and kept being a top notch mixed martial artist. This was essentially a number one contenders fight, especially for Jackson if he won. It kind of makes the sport look silly if you think about it. Would Kobe Bryant skip a round of the playoffs to make a movie? What about Adrian Peterson, Alex Rodriguez, or Sidney Crosby? Hell do you think they would miss a regular season game for a movie roll? If MMA wants to be taken seriously by popular sports culture, it has to be taken seriously by its own athletes. Rampage is one of our biggest stars and he doesn’t care enough about the sport to take a fight he agreed to and spent time building? The same can be said for Mr. Le who is basically holding the Strikeforce MW title hostage while he makes movies that no one will ever watch. This is why MMA is still seen by many as a trend. If you want to go do some acting go do it when you take a break from the sport for a bit. Don’t do it when you should be in the limelight, competing at the top levels. The majority of the sports top athletes take MMA very seriously and I wish cases like Jackson and Le didn’t make MMA look like a stepping stone to “real careers.”
*steps off soap box*
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