Rampage Jackson reveals the toughest choice of his UFC career that ‘really upset’ Dana White

Rampage Jackson: ‘I took a movie over a fight one time’

Jackson had a rocky relationship with the UFC in 2009 and the fighter says it got even worse after he took up an acting career, one that would be cut short after landing one of the lead roles in The A-Team (2010). In the reboot of the iconic series, Jackson starred as ‘B. A. Baracus’ (played by Mr. T in the original).

“That’s when our relationship went more south,” Jackson said of UFC boss Dana White in an interview with Chris Van Vliet.

“I took a movie over a fight one time. A-Team…”

“That was the toughest decision I had to make in my career,” Jackson said.

“Because I really wanna fight in Memphis in my hometown, and I really feel like if I would have fought Rashad at that time, I would hurt his feelings bad. I would have beat him up, just being there in my hometown.

“I always wanted to fight in my hometown,” Jackson added.

White later said he was ‘really, really upset’ with Jackson not fighting Evans at UFC 107, saying: “If you’d rather be on the set of ‘The A-Team,’ then you definitely don’t belong in the Octagon.” (via Las Vegas Sun)

Rampage Jackson says he didn’t do ‘The A-Team’ for the money

While Jackson got to star alongside Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley, the fighter was brutally honest on the pay difference between the UFC and acting—it wasn’t great.

“I lost money doing that movie, to be honest,” Jackson said.

“I got paid less than 10% of what I get paid for a fight.

“I did it because I’m a big fan of it,” Jackson explained.

“I like doing movies. I’m a big kid, and I was hoping to get more movie roles after that. All I can say about that is that the manager I had at the time was a f—— idiot, and he thought it was a good idea to sign with the same agency that represented the UFC.

“I didn’t get any more movie offers…”

Reflecting on the decision to put the UFC on hold for the A-Team, much to the dislike of Dana White, Jackson says it’s not a decision he regrets making for one core reason.

“I don’t think it was a bad decision because A-Team, it brought my father and I closer together,” the former champion said.

“Me and my father, we always been close, but back when I was young, that’s one of the ways my dad and I bonded. We used to watch A-Team together and stuff. I’ve never been a real big fan of anybody, but I’ve always been a big fan of The A-Team and Mr. T.

“I was like one of his biggest fans. It was like a personal thing for me to do the movie.”

Jackson continued.

“My dad went through a bad patch in his life with alcohol and stuff as I got older and he’s back on the straight and narrow and so I brought him out to the set and he got to be a big kid and stuff like that.

“It was abundant for my dad. And my dad, he talks about it’s one of the best times he ever had because he never been to Canada. He never been nowhere. He gets to be on set and see The A-Team movie and stuff like that.

“My dad had a great time,” Jackson said.