Rampage: “I thought I heard the voice of God…”
August 29, 2008 by Adam Morgan
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, in an exclusive interview with the OC Register, spoke about what was going through his mind during his July 15 police chase through the streets of Costa Mesa and I don’t know if it’s all a ploy to help him during his upcoming trial or whether it’s legitimate. What I do know, however, is that it’s pretty f’n ridiculous:
He said he thought he was on a mission to save a friend – who had recently lost his faith in God – and was unaware that he had hit any other cars or was being pursued by a phalanx of police cars.
“I thought I heard the voice of God telling me to go save Brian,” he said in an interview today after his arraignment on two felony evading arrest charges. “I felt if I didn’t get to Brian, he would die.”
Unaware that he hit other cars? Unaware that the police were chasing him? That’s pretty ridiculous, right? But wait, it gets better. Not only did Rampage think that God was talking to him but apparently the movie “The Secret” was heavily influential during this whole ordeal as well:
And then to compound things, Jackson said, he stayed awake for most of the night before the wild pursuit watching the movie “The Secret” on his DVD player, over and over again. “The Secret” is a story about using free will to make things happen in life. The film has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show and has been used as motivation in court-ordered classes for drunken-drivers, according to Lavacot.
Jackson said he watched the movie to the end that night and saw its message in a new light. Jackson, who became a born-again Christian about four years ago, said he connected the teachings of the movie with the teachings of the Bible.
“The Bible told me to have faith,” he said. “But ‘The Secret’ taught me how to have faith.”
But then he also remembered he had loaned a copy of “The Secret” to his friend Brian Talbert, also a UFC fighter. He said he somehow got it in his mind that if he didn’t warn his friend to watch the movie all the way to the end, Brian would die.
Wow. Please tell me this is not what Rampage intends to tell the jury in the courtroom. Firstly, I believe Rampage should have plead guilty to the charges, taken his punishment, and put this whole thing behind him as quickly as possible while still taking responsibility for it. It looks bad on him and the UFC that he’s trying to use a half-assed quasi-insanity defense to get off light. To be this over the top that you have to tell a jury that you had to save your friend’s life by telling him to watch “The Secret” to the very end or else he would die is really pushing the boundaries. Rampage has money and the UFC is backing him heavily during this whole ordeal so don’t be surprised when he gets off light but this is maybe the most ridiculous way to go about things.
“Firstly, I believe Rampage should have plead guilty to the charges, taken his punishment, and put this whole thing behind him as quickly as possible while still taking responsibility for it.”
YOU BEEN DRINKING? ?!!??!
I hope his Lawyer had him plead not guilty so they can work out a plea agreement instead of telling that crap story to the jury. I would think that his lawyer would be more competent then that. But then again when it comes down to it he is the client and the lawyer is going to do what Rampage wants. Plea it out and get you shit together.
I don’t understand why you think he should have plead guilty. A person’s state of mind can obviously be important in a court case and determining whether or not they really should be found guilty. Seems pretty straightforward. Just because he plead not guilty doesn’t mean it still won’t be resolved outside of court.
Ok I will stay on topic with this one, Rampage is an idiot.
Also, do you ever think *SHOCK GASP* that he’s telling the truth? Rampage is an oddball to start off with, so how is it outside the realm of possibility?
Is this an MMA News site or an MMA opinion site?
Adam,
Why don’t you keep your misguided opinions to yourself and just report on the NEWS! You are one of the most hate-filled writers on this site (Or any other MMA site, for that matter!). Were you in the truck with Rampage? Were you one of the arresting officers? NO! So stop acting like you know more about this situation than you actually do.
Stop calling Rampage a liar and have a tall glass of STFU!
Your friend, Venom
Pleading guilty makes no sense, even if you are guilty. At least if he pleads not guilty, and he can get everything reduced.
That aside, Rampage sounds like a complete idiot with all the religious babble. I understand that it is important to him, but he sounds insane talking about it, and is completely incoherent when talking about it.
I hope everything ends up alright for him though, since he is a favorite fighter of mine….
It would be consistent for Rampage to have been kidding the OC Register reporter, though…really bad timing, but definitely consistent…
Wow venom, perhaps you missed the tagline under the website banner: Your destination for insider MMA news and OPINION.
rampage is an idiot.
This is funny. Rampage’s actions wouldn’t have made any sense at all, therefore he clearly wasn’t insane!
What the hell do you think insanity is?
That some good stuff Rampage been smoking.
This is just a bad situation altogether. Rampage will have his lawyers drag this out and probably will face probation and community service. You know, the typical famous person treatment.
Bottom line he is not ok up in the ol’ noggin after the fight with Forrest. Not sure how to react after losing in controversial fashion. If the was any of us, they would lock us up and throw away the key
As far as im concerned that is the truth, “The Secret” is the devils work and would do that to anyone.
Seeing a vision is never an excuse. In that case, what would have happened if he hit and killed a person? He obviously wouldn’t have stopped nor known it even happened. He wouldn’t even remember it today when asked about it.
It’s very sad to see this, as I really like Rampage, but it looks like he is going 5150 cause his excuses and reasoning is f’ing ridiculous!
Good call on that too Lee!!
there is a mental condition related to a type of stroke that some people have that cause them to have religious hallucinations even if they’re atheists. i saw it in a documentary by oxford professor richard dawkins. quite a few people throughout history are expected to have had the condition, including a woman that helped popularize the Mormon church.
so unless you’re a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist or have some type of health training why don’t you keep your mouth shut when people are possibly insane. do you think insane people think their actions are normal or justified??
ask the guy who just beheaded some random 20something year old kid on a greyhound bus just close to my city, you asshole.
what’s your next column, how to push people in wheelchairs down stairs and beating up retards?
You think he sould have just plead guilty? Good thing you aren’t a lawyer. You might better keep your completely uneducated opinions to yourself on this type of thing.
Secondly, how can you completely blow off the possibility that he was going through mental problems? I don’t know if he was or not, but neither do you. So it is completely irresponsible for someone helping run a website to make light of possibly legitimate issues that somebody is going through.
If it comes out that he is full of shit, then blast the hell out of him. But until then, its not something to make light of.
Good lord…looks like one of Memphis, Tenn finest telling an all-purpose story that will get himself “off the hook”. Rampage talks like a first grader and plays around with people, but that judge will eat him alive if he spews all that bs. This is reality, not a slap on the wrist.
Hello Schizophrenia…my name is Quinton Jackson
Even if hes not insane, he sure is plenty stupid for both using his religion as some kind of excuse and not pleading guilty(nice truck Rampage). If some Muslim went about and did the same thing, Im pretty sure he’d be in Guantanamo Bay. But since its Rampage and hes a “born again” Christian, its all fine and dandy.
I love how people can believe in religion and fight wars over it and everything but when someone claims a religious experience, they are ‘crazy’ and it will not even hold up in any court of the US. The only defense is considered insanity? I wonder what would have happened had the courts thought this way in Jesus’ time? oh wait… shit, we’re no different 2k years later
I think God should have told Rampage to make better choices, and to avoid the clinch situations with kickboxers. God probably should have told him to, specifically, avoid Wandy’s knees; “Harmful they are Rampage, avoid them you should” (in Yoda voice). Wait, does that make me crazy for saying this stuff?
whoever wrote this should quit whining and respect the fact that he handling the situation. So what if its a weird excuse, fuck the government and their fucked up ways n laws n props to quinton for using whatever it takes to get out, systems dirty anyway
Adam, its not like this is big news, the whole “rampage went god-crazy” has been the circulating story about that incident for many weeks, so he’s just being consistent at this point. And im not sure why you jump to the conclusion that he’s making this up as opposed to that he simply had a serious psychological episode of some kind.
I have a feeling some of you would feel differently had his monster truck hit your mother.
Dear Author,
If you were facing the exact same charges and your employer was awesome enough to support you through it and help you get off of the charges, would you not go with the flow? It sounds to me like you would rather sit in Jail for 2 years then come up with a good strategy to try and save your freedom..
Maybe you Mr.Author have not been to jail before, because if you had you would not even bring up the speculation that rampages defense strategy is an act… you shouldnt hate on the man.. he didnt hurt anyone and doesnt deserve a guilty verdict or to go to jail… the system is corrupt, you cant always be blinded by what the GOvernment tells you is right..
“I have a feeling some of you would feel differently had his monster truck hit your mother.”
No…if his truck hit my mother this write up still wouldn’t make sense.
“And im not sure why you jump to the conclusion that he’s making this up as opposed to that he simply had a serious psychological episode of some kind.”
I used my Jump To Conclusions Mat.
I doubt this will ever make it to court, they will make a deal with the DA for lesser charges. Yes the story is crazy but that’s why it could very well work(if your insanity plea is supposed to sound insane). A plea bargain gets the DA a guaranteed conviction to a lesser charge and saves the time and money of actually taking this to court.
Michael Huckaby, if he had hit my mother’s car I would be telling her to make sure his insurance fixed it right. It’s not like this is the OJ case it’s traffic violations. Yes he could of killed someone but then so could everyone who gets behind the wheel of a car and uses a cell phone or breaks the speed limit. The courts don’t charge people what potentially could of happened they charge them for what actually did happen.
I agree with Adam, take the punishment and pay your dues, you can afford it.
“I agree with Adam, take the punishment and pay your dues, you can afford it.
Do you have a clue what 1 felony does to you let alone 2? Some of you make it sound like a traffic fine.
Ok I forgot about the insane legal system of the country in question. Still, if you don¨t accept the guilt in court, how are you going to do it on a personal level, in front of yourself?
btw how are monster trucks even even allowed in cities? is it the same license as a regular car?
I hope he’s Michael Jackson or OJ’s lawyers… >.<
*I hope he’s got is what it should say >.>
foolish to plead guilty. he needs to get the felony’s reduced. this will never go to trial.
“Do you have a clue what 1 felony does to you let alone 2? Some of you make it sound like a traffic fine.”
Yeah…. so don’t commit felonies. I’ve never went crazy and ran into cars and went on a police chase, maybe when I do I’ll feel differently. Silly me I feel that’s crazy or irresponsible.
“I have a feeling some of you would feel differently had his monster truck hit your mother.”
if he hit ( and hurt) my mother I would probably feel like smackin’ Rampage around. i’d probably FEEL like ripping is head off. i’d wanna stomp his guts out. later on i’d probably calm down to a more rational viewpoint.
good thing we have a legal system that attempts to deal with these things fairly. the concept of forgiveness is pretty good too.
according to the DA, there was no one injured in this accident.
Michael, he hasn’t “committed felonies” yet- he took some actions that could end up being considered felonies, but the entire point of a trial is to determine whether those actions should be considered felonies or not- and that hasn’t happened yet. So let the man plead as he will and see how the courts interpret the actions and events of that day. Neither of us has enough information to pass judgement on Rampage right now.
His punishment: Shogun, then Wandy before another shot at the title. Lol. So he gets beat up badly (again) THEN makes money, then gets cast aside anyway. Self-owned=Rampage.
edit; MAKES MONEY FOR OTHERS, lol.
@Ray haha, the same shogun that tapped to griffin? lolz, im hope he fixed whatever broke between his exit from pride and that fight, or page is gonna manhandle him, no matter how their first fight went.
Mental illness has always been a touchy topic in our society. You have to realize though that even if he pleads “not guilty” and is acquitted, the judge is going to order some sort of psychiatric evaluation. If that happens and it is determined that Rampage genuinely suffers from mental illness, to what degree is it? What ethics come into play with his fight career? Schizophrenia is a treatable didorder, but who wants to fight a guy who can talk directly to God?
HexRai - he did - it required 2 or 3 complete reconstructions of his knee but it should be better now. Griffen is a lucky guy for now but when he fights shogun in a position where he can actually train for the fight instead of sit on a chair to train he won’t be so lucky a second time.
He had a mental breakdown. He needs a court-ordered psych evaluation and subsequent treatment plan, not hard jail time. No matter what spin the Govt puts out, prison is for punishment, not rehabilitation. As far as I can tell, Rampage didn’t go on a rampage for fun, but because he was/is sick.
“Yeah…. so don’t commit felonies. I’ve never went crazy and ran into cars and went on a police chase, maybe when I do I’ll feel differently. Silly me I feel that’s crazy or irresponsible.”
You’re missing the point.
1. He may not have been aware of his actions so cut him some slack. So much knee jerk reaction here. Loving the junior psychology experts here.
2. Saying he should just admit he is guilty and move on as if its a minor issue is idiocy to put it kindly.
So many people are wanting him to come close to ruining his life without knowing very many of the facts.
Just a guess but I have a feeling he has a large group of friends, neighbors and strangers…possibly even a doctor or two who are going to come to court vouching he was very mentally sick for a few days and acting abnormal.
I actually agree with the group that this could be a legit medical issue and not a bunch of calculated lies on Rampage’s part to get off on an insanity plea. I don’t think everyone is appreciating the full extent of the psychological mind and its place in the court of law nor the consequences of just accepting responsibility for a felony at face value. Whether you agree with the allowance of the loss of mental facilities as an excuse in the court room, the fact is that is a considered and therefore Rampage should be allowed to explore that option… to see if that was in fact the case.
Skwirrl- Yes, I knew about that, but it seemed like there was a lot more wrong with him than a knee injury. He was really fat leading up to that fight and although he dropped a lot of it by fight time, he still had major cardio issues… even with a wounded knee he should have been working the aerodyne or something at least.
You can’t tell me that his gassing was entirely because of a torn ACL… I have to say I feel its just as likely that he gassed because he was forced to fight without the juice.
i love b/c it was rampage that some of you are trying to rationalize this. if it was any other nutter off the street, you’d say they were nuts
“if it was any other nutter off the street, you’d say they were nuts”
Probably because we don’t know anything about the “other nutter”. I am sure most people who read this forum have been following him for a long time and have read/seen/heard countless interviews over the years with and about him so we have at least a basic idea of who he is.
Screw medical issues, if you put other people in danger you put other people in danger. We live in a society that cares more about the convict than the victim. I care about the victim.
I don’t care if Rampage was crazy or not, he fucked up and he deserves to pay the price. What does it matter if you’re crazy or not? You’re still a problem for society.
@ ttt
You and a few others can’t seem to grasp that because it’s someone we’re familiar with; not just because it’s “Rampage”, that we actually care to look beyond the charges and see the facets of the case. I’m no Rampage fanboy. No one is saying he is not guilty and doesn’t deserve to be punished in some way, just that it’s screamingly obvious that he didn’t have all his mental faculties that day, and that should be taken into account. IMO, he needs help, not jail time, but I’m not going to bitch about the outcome, whatever it will be. There are scores of people that are sent to prison when counseling and medication would be much more beneficial to them, and to society in the long run.
Being rational isn’t a bad thing. Better than the “off with his head” philosophy.
Michael,
Wow, I’m really glad you have no judicial power because your whole “guilty until proven innocent” attitude is kind of scary…
“Screw medical issues,”
Awesome….good thinking. Well thought out.
Rampage using that kind of excuse is the most goddamn ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Don’t try to defend him saying we don’t have the facts! We do have the facts! He hit cars, kept on driving , and led police on a chase! What the hell else do we need to know?! And now he is saying it was because he watched a movie and god told him to go and save his friend!!!! All I have to say to that is “JESUS CHRIST” and “HOLY SHIT”!!!!
Well this goes out to a few people, so I won’t mention names. Some of you are saying it is wrong to say he is guilty without knowing the facts, but then you turn around and justify an insanity plea. So you guys are basically saying he is in fact guilty, BUT he was mentally ill at the time! Wow! and you guys have the nerve to say someone else is jumping to conclusions! “HOLY SHIT”!!
@ Ken….
Yeah give me a break dude. If he hit your mother with his truck or anyone else you care about for that matter, there is no way you would “calm down” and run to Rampage’s defense. Lets return from lala land and snap back into reality please!
Huckaby -
does it give you pause at all that you and king mah mah are on the same page on this issue? That should be the first sign that your opinion may need revising…
I should preface this entry with this…I have worked in a psychiatric hospital for the past six years. The statements that Quinton Jackson made are not only quite pausible for him to believe, but also themes common to people suffering a psychotic break. I would not pass judgement quite so quickly or harshly, if Quinton Jackson does indeed suffer from some sort of mental illness it is most likely caused by a chemical imbalance in his brain. My assumption is that your reaction wouldn’t have been so strong if he had a diabetic seizure (also caused by a chemical imbalance) and crashed. Now, that said, people with mental illness still have the capacity to make choices, and he made a horrible choice and should be punished accordinly, but to discount what could quite possibly going through his mind is a mistake. My opinion is obviously colored by my job, so take from it what you will. Great site, keep up the good work.
Wow, everyone who reads 5oz of pain is a psychiatric doctor. I didn’t know this website has such a following in the medical community. The fact is, no one know Rampage’s thoughts or feelings, other than Rampage (but judging on his comments, maybe he doesn’t even know). What would really worry me if I were him and the UFC, is using a defence such as “I thought I was on a mission from God” might call into question his mental health. When your job is to get punched in the head over and over, some governing body might frown on sactioning a fight with someone who could be a hit away from having real and serious psychological problems. I hope for Rampage’s sake as a human being, that he gets makes sure everything is right with him and forget everything else.
You can most definitely be completed delusional and hear/see things if you become overly dehydrated and haven’t eaten etc etc, I had a bout of food poisoning that completely dehydrated me once and I was seeing absolutely crazy shit and hearing songs backwards in my head… before they took me to a hospital for an IV… I believe Rampage.
rampage stories = lots of views lots of hate and lots of dumb opinions
i find this all highly entertaining.
Everyone should watch the video instead of listening to this guy’s fucked up point of view.
http://cbs2.com/video/?id=75772@kcbs.dayport.com
dude is crazy
One of the women he hit in his misadventure suffered a miscarriage. There goes the “he didn’t hurt anyone” defense.
I know 2 of the people Quinton was with the night before that awful incident. In fact he was suffering greatly mentally and emotionally at that time, as was reported. He is not an idiot, crazy, or any other offensive term. He is a very sensitive sweet man who was greatly troubled by forces outside of him.
He will have a great comeback and we will all see a power and influence as great as Mohammad Ali, god willing.