"I never forgot it" - Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson credits Ken Shamrock's prediction for leading him to the world championship
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson recently reflected on receiving support from Ken Shamrock early in his MMA career. He credited the UFC Hall of Famer's prediction for leading him to an eventual world championship.
'Rampage' was one of the top light heavyweights in the sport during his prime and took the sport by storm early on. During a recent episode of his Jaxxon Podcast, the former light heavyweight champion had Shamrock on as a guest and took the opportunity to thank him for his prediction and thinking highly of him as a fighter.
Jackson noted that the former UFC Superfight champion was a pioneer of the sport and was one that many fighters like himself looked up to. He recounted 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' being in attendance when he fought Marvin Eastman at King of the Cage and mentioned that his prediction that he would be a world champion was very significant for him. He said:
"Yeah, I became champion because of you and your words. Your words, I remember it, I never forgot it...You saw something in me and you were like, 'This kid's got something. He could be champion'...I didn't know, I did my first professional fight."
Shamrock's prediction was spot on as Jackson went on to win the UFC light heavyweight championship in 2007 and then unified the title with the Pride middleweight championship after defeating Dan Henderson later that year.
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson reveals he was offered a fight against Ken Shamrock in Pride
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson recently revealed that he was once offered a fight against Ken Shamrock in Pride as well as the terms of the agreement.
During the aforementioned episode, Jackson mentioned that prior to fighting Kazushi Sakuraba, he agreed to fight the former UFC Superfight champion but opted not to because the terms were better for the Sakuraba fight. He said:
"I can't remember who but someone offered a fight with you for $5000. And I was broke as fu*k back then. So I was like, 'Fight Ken Shamrock?' At that time, the most money I've ever made was $500...Two days later, somebody came and said, 'Fu*k that, you're fighting [Kazushi] Sakuraba for $10,000...I was like, 'Fu*k yeah, let's do it."