Quinton Jackson says rigging MMA fights has happened, and he knows of a few.
Many fans and conspiracy theorists have often said MMA fights are fixed, and those claims have only furthered with the rise of Jake Paul and his boxing matches. Although Jackson says he hasn’t heard of UFC fights being fixed, he hints at former PRIDE fights that featured pro wrestlers being fixed, as well as pro boxers.
“I know that there’s been fake fights in MMA. I know that… Say me and you fight and you say, ‘Listen Rampage, I’m gonna give you $10 million to take a dive. I gotta look good though,” Jackson said to Chris Van Vliet (via Sportskeeda). “I gotta really hit you. I’m like, ‘I get hit all the time’. At the end you know that you’re gonna hit me, I know that you’re gonna hit me, but you know you’re gonna knock me the f*** out. I’m just thinking, ‘I’m gonna get hit then I gotta fall down’. Boxers do that shit all the time.”
Although Quinton Jackson says he knows of fake fights in MMA, he didn’t give any proof so it is just hearsay right now. But, given how many fights have taken place, the odds are likely that at least one has been fixed, as boxers have been proven to have fixed fights on multiple occasions.
As for Jackson, he has not fought since December 2019 when he suffered a TKO loss to Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 237 in Japan. Jackson is the former UFC light heavyweight champion and holds notable wins over Lyoto Machida, Chuck Liddell, Kevin Randleman, Keith Jardine, and Wanderlei Silva among others. In his career, he went 8-5 in the UFC, 12-5 in Pride, and 5-3 in Bellator.
Do you agree with Quinton Jackson that MMA fights have been fixed? Sound off in the comment section, PENN Nation!
