Dana White hints at possible reasons behind Rampage Jackson’s recent behavior
July 20, 2008 by Sam Caplan
While the precise condition and whereabouts of former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson are unknown, UFC President Dana White recently gave an indication that Jackson may have possibly spent the weekend in a mental health facility.
Initial indications were that Jackson would spend up to 72 hours under evaluation. According to a recent report by Yahoo! Sports’ Steve Cofield, White indicated that Jackson’s stay might have been extended.
“I think it’s going to be a while before we get him back,” said White during a guest appearance on Cofield’s ESPN Radio show in Las Vegas. “I’m talking as a friend. It’s a sensitive issue. Rampage, the UFC fighter, who cares about that. We’re concerned about Rampage, the human being. What matters is his personal life.”
While Jackson or a representative speaking on his behalf have yet to reveal what might have caused his outburst last week, White’s position with the UFC makes him a credible source. And apparently there were some strange behavior from Jackson in the days leading up to his arrest by Costa Mesa Police officials last week.
“He was up for four days and he was doing some crazy fasting thing,” White explained to Cofield. “He was up for four days, drinking water and energy drinks, that was it. It’s not good.”
White’s comments on the show also support information that suggest drugs and or alcohol had no role in Jackson’s behavior.
“Rampage doesn’t do drugs,” said White. “Rampage really doesn’t even drink. This whole thing made no sense to me. (Then) when I got there it made a lot of sense.”
“He was up for four days and he was doing some crazy fasting thing,” White explained to Cofield. “He was up for four days, drinking water and energy drinks, that was it. It’s not good.”
Assuming this is the true basics of the story it does make sense to me…I used to work at a organic food store…also sold a lot of vitamins. Its amazing the damage people do when trying to make themselves healthier. Some of these insane diets take a massive toll on your body.
Yeah, dietary supplements and other products sold at “health food” stores aren’t necessarily healthy. Supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA, so you’re using your body as a walking chemistry experiment, especially when you combine them and if you combine them with medications prescribed by a doctor.
Furthermore, nutrition can play a huge role in mental health. Remember the Moonies? They brainwashed converts with techniques developed by militaries, especially the North Koreans. Combine sleep deprivation with a high carbo, low protein diet and throw in bursts of physical activity or stress and you can break somebody down very quickly.
Who knows what is wrong with him. I am sure more will leak out as time passes on. If he was fasting it would make you weak for sure. Also, lack of sleep may play a role in his carelessness on the road. Who knows..? It is all speculation until the truth comes out.
I know people who have done a “fast or a cleansing” but to have energy drinks with no food..Energy drinks can be hard on your body if you have no sleep and drink a excess of them on a empty stomach..Wow, a energy drink can give you a heart palpitations…
Energy drinks are indeed bad for you. As are most (not all, but most) of the supplements you can get at your local GNC. If people just used proper nutrition, that would make a huge difference.
If this doesn’t sound like a full-blown manic episode, I don’t know what does.
Alot of people don’t know that his fasting is part of the reason why he split with his former coach, Colin Oyama. Colin doesn’t like to talk about it but he confronted Rampage about it and that is what precipitated the public argument at Pride.
http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/quinton-jackson-changed-in-and-out-of-the-ring-2448
an article by josh gross about rampage fasting to “get the devil out”
or it could just be him living up to his name a bit because he was robbed of his belt by poor judges.
Rampage was seen by many people attending the Affliction event, which controdicts Dana’s statement about his whereabouts.
a lot of those energy drinks have multiple sources of caffeine in them - some people react badly to huge amounts of caffeine. i once took my girlfriend to the hospital thinking she was on acid because she was hallucinating spiders everywhere. the drug that caused this was caffeine from pills, coffee and jolt cola.
Should we really be hearing about this from Dana White? Does signing a contract with Zuffa mean D.W. can release personal information about any given fighter at his whim. I mean, this isn’t character rights or ancellary rights or whatever. This is “Family only” information that Dana White is speaking about to the whole world. Release a statement that you are supporting him and leave it at that. He tell’s us squat the rest of the time anyways. As well as mentioning Jesse Taylor going to AA, it’s ANONYMOUS. Say he’s gotten help, and mind your own damned business, jerk.
@#10 that’s one of the more silly reasons to get angry at Dana that I’ve ever seen
Rampage doesn’t know Ka-rate, but he knows Ca-razy!! (RIP James Brown)
# 6 ACK!
You are totally right. Any other speculation is a complete waste of time.
Speculation is a waste of time for sure, but from experience mixing energy drinks/fasting to cut weight, or even if you’re not openly trying to cut weight is a bad idea. I did that once mistakenly when I was wrestling in high school and I was essentially hallucinating by the second day and apparently flipping out on people (I had gaps in my memory, it was like sleep walking or some shit…).
That was a messed up weekend…
Sam, Cofield said something on his blog about Rampage being at the Affliction event. But his wording was a little strange. Can you confirm this, because Dana said that he was being held for 72 hours…
If Dana went out there and “knew” Rampage was in bad shape and was up 4 or 5 days with no food and only energy drinks and water…..
I am just curious to what happened to Dana. Did he just leave him after knowing how bad he was??? The reports never said anything about Dan White stopping police and having him go in for mental observation.
Just curious because I listened to interview with Cofield and Dana White about Jackson…….and Dana left me more confused on why he went out there and what part he played????
To me it souds like he was on crank or something.
So basically Rampage flipped out and went of a four-day fast of vitamins and energy drinks?
yeh, he should be institutionalized.
i heard of fasting on a lazy ,spiritual retreat, but these fasts have to be monitered in a stress free environment away from modern day living. fasts make people get real crazy a few days into them as evidenced bu ‘page
Having a sister-in-law that is bi-polar and goes through manic episodes like what was described with Rampage my guess is he might have the disease which can be somewhat kept in check with meds but it is not an easy road ahead for the man if that is what the problem is.
There are a lot of high’s and low’s (no pun intended) when dealing with someone who has it and staying up for days at a time is part of the mania’s they suffer. We all need to keep good thoughts for Rampage.
Whatever the outcome of this saga Rampage has just piled a lot more pressure on himself for his next fight. Whether it was actually some form of “breakdown” or just an unfortunate incident thats been blown up through speculation, the next time he steps into the cage there will be a lot of interest in not just his performance but also his behaviour pre and post fight. His first fight in the UFC against Eastman he looked nervous, edgy and ultimately not like a very good Rampage. I just hope he can pull through this and come back strong again, both physically and mentally.
I love Rampage. Good luck mate.