Former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson made a name for himself by dominating the light heavyweight ranks for several years.
Now, due to a medical condition, Jackson might not be able to compete at 205 pounds ever again.
Coming off a split decision victory over Satoshi Ishii in his return to Bellator recently, Jackson told “The MMA Hour” that he has been diagnosed with an under-active thyroid.
“I’ve been dealing with this for like a year,” Jackson said (thanks to MMA Fighting for transcribing). “I’ve been keeping it kind of to myself. It kind of bummed me out. If I don’t stay on top of it, I gain weight really fast. That’s what’s been going on. I’ve been noticing after my fights I’ve just been gaining more weight fast, I didn’t know what was going on.”
The 38-year-old Jackson admitted that he has to “change my lifestyle, change the way I eat” during the interview, but still might try to attempt a cut to 205 pounds.
“I don’t really want to fight the real big boys, because I noticed that I tried to pick Ishii up at the end of the fight, I was trying to go for a slam and I was like, ‘This dude is too big,'” Jackson said. “He felt like he had put some bricks in his ass or something. I don’t know if it’s his judo background or what. I was like man, maybe I do need to take my ugly ass back down to 205.”
