Rampage Jackson: My biggest regret in life is becoming an MMA fighter

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson, who now plys his trade as a heavyweight attraction for Bellator MMA, is starting to wonder what life would have been life if he abandoned his dream of becoming a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.

Sure, the sport made Jackson a multimillionaire, but as “Rampage” is discovering in the twilight of his combat sports career — full of both ups and downs — there is more to life than fast cars and even faster women.

From his conversation with ESPN (transcribed by Bloody Elbow):

“I would have to honestly say that my biggest regret is even starting this sport. I think I would’ve lived a different life if I would have stayed home in Memphis and worked at the family business. I’d be closer to my family and growing old with them instead of living out in California with all of my family back at home. My little sister’s all grown and stuff now; I left home when she was like eight. My dream was to go and be a fighter. But then now when I look back on it, I wish that I just stayed back home with my family.”

“I gained a lot of fans, I made a lot of money, but I feel like I lost my family. I don’t see them, I don’t know them. My parents are getting older, and I’m living in California away from them. I have my own family here — my kids and stuff — but I miss my cousins, my parents, and my sisters and brothers.”

I know one guy who also wishes “Rampage” stayed home.

Jackson (37-11) returns to the hurt business for the Bellator 175 extravaganza this Friday night (March 31, 2017) inside Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, for his Spike TV rematch against longtime nemesis Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.

For much more on that upcoming fight click here.