Due to his eccentric personality and aggressive fighting style, Jackson became a star in Japan during his tenure with Pride FC and following his move to the UFC, he helped pioneer MMA's growth into a worldwide sport.
Jackson built up a record of 10 wins and 1 loss fighting for a variety of smaller scale American promotions, including King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and Dangerzone.
Jackson captivated the Japanese fans with his exciting performance and also gained their respect and admiration for his valiant effort against the much more experienced Sakuraba.
Jackson went on to defeat Masaaki Satake, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kevin Randleman and Mikhail Illoukhine in successive Pride bouts.
Many expected Jackson's wild style of striking would not translate into the K-1 ring, thinking he would be outclassed by such a schooled and disciplined striker as Abidi.
On December 11, 2006, Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, announced it had acquired select assets from the World Fighting Alliance, which ceased operations as part of their sales agreement.
[17] Jackson then defeated Pride Middleweight Champion Dan Henderson at UFC 75,[18] on September 8, 2007, in London, England via unanimous decision to unify the two organizations' titles.
[19] On December 9, 2007, it was announced by Dana White at Spike TV's Video Game Awards show that Jackson will be one of the two coaches of The Ultimate Fighter 7.
The next three rounds were described by Sherdog as "somewhat uneventful" with Jackson searching for the knockout punch while Griffin threw whatever he could with long jabs, leg and body kicks.
[25] However, after speaking with the commission about his complaint, he decided not to file because he was informed that even if the judges scores were changed to his satisfaction, the fight would still result in a victory for Griffin by a majority decision.
Following the loss of his belt, Quinton was involved in a hit and run incident and a high speed police pursuit in Newport Beach, California, charges followed to which he would plead guilty.
Lyoto Machida received the title shot and Evans was expected to defend his belt as the main event instead; Jackson had stated he would like to fight Rashad, however, he suffered torn ligaments in his jaw that will require surgery and five weeks of no contact.
On December 4, 2009, Jackson informed the community via his web blog that he would return to the UFC to finish his contract and wanted to fight Rashad Evans.
UFC president Dana White put all doubts to rest and supported the judges' decision, saying that Jackson won the first two rounds and no rematch would be needed.
On June 4, 2013, it was announced Jackson had signed multi-year deal with the partnership of Spike TV, Bellator MMA and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
[55][56] Jackson was expected to face former training partner and fellow former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz on November 2 at Bellator 106.
[68] However, on April 7, Jackson was removed from the card after his most recent employer Bellator MMA was granted an injunction by a New Jersey Superior Court judge preventing him from competing for the UFC after it was alleged that he breached a deal signed in June 2013.
[71] Following his lone fight for Zuffa, it was announced on February 16, 2016, that Jackson had settled the contractual disputes with Bellator MMA and would be returning to the promotion.
[72] During this time at Bellator, Jackson brought on the expertise of celebrity sports nutritionist Edwina Cheer to advise him on all aspects of nutrition on fight preparation and leading up to, and including, the weight cut.
[84] On April 2, 2023, Jackson competed in the main event of Fight Circus 6: The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa[85] of the Thailand-based promotion Fight Circus in a two-on-two boxing match, teaming up with Bob Sapp against the promotion's CEO, Jon Nutt and Bangtao Muay Thai’s strength and conditioning coach Andrew Wood.
[94] Jackson returned on the July 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, being revealed as the fifth member of New Main Event Mafia along with Angle, Magnus, Samoa Joe, and Sting.
Ortiz later attacked Jackson by hitting him in the head with a hammer, which helped Bully Ray regain the World Heavyweight Championship and go on to join Aces & Eights.
[98] On September 12 at No Surrender, it was announced that Bellator MMA had pulled Jackson from TNA programming due to his upcoming PPV fight with Ortiz, thus removing him from the Main Event Mafia.
[101] [111] Jackson has appeared in Confessions of a Pit Fighter, Miss March, Bad Guys, The Midnight Meat Train, and Vigilante Diaries, as well as episodes of The King of Queens and Pimp My Ride.
[126] In that same interview, Jackson went on to make light of his past indecent sexual advances by stating: "You know I've been humping reporters so you might want to get away ...
"[127] In 2012, Jackson starred in a satirical video entitled "How to Pick Up a Gurl – Fast", where he suggests the use of chloroform and zip ties, as well as sneaking up on women in parking lots while already wearing a condom.
"[132] In 2013, Jackson directed more highly inappropriate comments toward female reporter Karyn Bryant during an interview just days after a petition was published seeking Rampage's removal from the UFC.
A judge dismissed the charges against Jackson on January 8, 2010, citing that he had successfully completed 200 hours of community service and complied with other terms and conditions.
[140] One of the victims in the above police chase, filed a civil suit against Jackson and claimed that the impact of her abdomen with the steering wheel caused her amniotic fluid membranes to rupture, ultimately resulting in the stillbirth of her baby.
Farrah Emami, Spokesperson for the DA's office, said: "We reviewed all the medical records and spoke with the victim's physician, and the evidence showed that the loss of the fetus was not related to or a result of the crash caused by the defendant.