Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is finally going to settle a grudge 14 years in the making.
Back in 2009, Jackson served as a head coach on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, opposite Rashad Evans. And while that season is remembered for many things, most notably the presence of Kimbo Slice, another subplot of the season was Jackson’s beef with contestant Darrill Schoonover.
Schoonover was the sixth overall pick of Evans and he and Jackson had a memorable feud that began with Jackson making fun of Schoonover’s physique, labeling him “Titties.” Schoonover responded by saying he was going to win the show and then would drop down to light heavyweight and beat Jackson, which got the former champion’s dander up. Jackson continued to mock Schoonover at various points in the season, with the two even coming nose-to-nose once after Jackson grabbed Schoonover’s chest. And now, 14 years later, Jackson says the two are going to have it out in the cage.
“The promotor [of UFL] wanted me to fight,” Jackson said on the JAXXON podcast. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ll come back and fight grudge matches only.’ So, I’m going to fight ‘Titties’ from The Ultimate Fighter. He just signed the contract, like yesterday or today for December. Yeah, I’ll be in shape. By that time, I’ll be 230, hopefully, and I’ll fight ‘Titties.’”
MMA Fighting reached out to UFL officials but was unable to confirm the matchup at this time.
Jackson has not fought since getting knocked out by Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 237 in 2019. Schoonover, meanwhile, has not competed since a DQ loss in 2015.
After nearly 10 years on the shelf, it’s a wonder why Schoonover would decide to return to fighting, but as Jackson explained, he made Schoonover an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“The way I got ‘Titties’ to fight was, I told him, ‘Look, if you beat me, I will never call you ‘Titties’ again,” Jackson said. “And he was like, ‘OK, let’s do this.’”
And as for what happened all those years ago? Jackson maintains that he did nothing wrong, which may be why he’s still carrying the grudge.
“He hates my guts because of that, and I feel bad,” Jackson said. “People from The Ultimate Fighter, they say, ‘You’re a bully.’ Honestly, I’m not a bully. I felt like that was entertainment. It’s a reality show. I like to be funny. I’ve got to make people laugh to keep coming back and watching the episodes. For me, it was just entertainment. At first he liked the name and then it stuck, his own teammates started calling him that, and I was the worst guy ever.”