Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, a former UFC light heavyweight champion-has had a rocky relationship with Dana White, CEO of the UFC. He shows his grievances with the organization on multiple issues which not only include unfair treatment regarding financial compensation but also the restrictive contract and promotional support. He publicly criticized the way UFC handles fighters pay and the unfair treatment he received in the UFC, particularly in terms of monetary and promotional assistance.
He shows his dissatisfaction on sponsorship deals as very limited fighters were provided with independent sponsors which led to Jackson parting ways with the promotion multiple times.
Dana said Rampage banked more than $15 million in his career, which is one of the highest earned by any mixed martial arts (MMA) player. He is one of the face of UFC at that time and brings a huge deal shield for UFC. Nevertheless, the table flipped between Jackson and White around 2012, to which Jackson addressed as follows.
Accusations of Performance-Enhancing Drug Use
Just before his fight in UFC 86 against Forrest Griffin, controversial moment occurred when Dana White accused Jackson of using steroids. As White showed suspicion on the weight gain of his in the offseason and stated “The guy was just blowing up”. These allegations deeply offended him as his integrity as a clean fighter was tarnished.
To which he responded that Dana White subjected him to out-of-competition drug tests leading up to the fight, which fuels the tension between them. “Rampage” also believed it was an unusual measure that indicates a lack of trust from White.
Dispute over Pay-Per-View Finances
Another major source of tension between Jackson and White relates to financial disagreements surrounding PPV earnings. Jackson publicly claimed that the UFC head honcho lied to him on the pay-per-view figures. As privately White said the figures were less than a million buys whereas in front of the media claimed the event had exceeded the one-million mark.
On this Jackson feels duplicity as it affected its payout from the match and it worsened added to his ongoing frustrations with UFC contracts, To this many fighters also criticized this as lack of transparency regarding sharing of revenue.
Miss opportunity of Game changing Reebok Sponsorship deal
Jackson further accused the UFC of relying on his sponsorship agreements. Cutting the crap, he pinpointed how the UFC’s sponsorship policies negatively impacted his earnings, causing the loss of his big contract with Reebok. The UFC exclusive uniform deal with Reebok nullified Jackson’s personal deal and stuck to the norms of UFC contract.
The deal could provide financial benefits to him but couldn’t and saw this as UFC controls over fighters and their earning potential deals. He argued that he shouldn’t have been denied his own sponsorships under the independent contractor status the UFC bestowed on him.
Conclusion of battle between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Dana White
The continuing battle between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Dana White brings to light the more macro-level concerns running around the mixed martial arts space, which includes fighter treatment, financial transparency, and sponsorship restrictions. Jackson’s grievances show how UFC is not allowing fighters to promote themselves as an independent sponsor deal which restricts their financial opportunities. Not only UFC control the sponsorship deals but also the revenue sharing, and contract terms which constraints them from the big opportunities of promotional deals.
Clearly it reveals some dark truth from inside and highlights that players were bound to contracts and were not allowed to do any individual level deal which limits their potential and big deal which adds surplus financial aids to them. The current situation of the fighters pay is not known and maybe the company might have revised its pay system and other sponsors related issues. Stay tuned with us for further updates on this topic.
REDDAVENI SAISNEHA 
Ashvinkumar Patil