• UFC 144

Rampage drops retirement hint ahead of UFC 144

ESPN staff
February 22, 2012
UFC 144 Countdown: Rampage Jackson v Ryan Bader

Rampage Jackson admits his time is almost up as a mixed martial artist, revealing Ryan Bader at UFC 144 will be one of his last fights.

Jackson, a previous owner of the UFC light-heavyweight title, believes he has had his last shot at the belt, losing to Jon Jones. He will meet Bader this weekend, but after that the future is unclear.

"One time I was the best in my weight class, but now it's him. He's the guy now. My time has passed," Jackson told Fighters Only. "He's the best in the world at light-heavyweight and I feel nobody out there can beat Jon Jones.

"I have to be honest - and despite how the fans feel and some other people feel - my fighting career is coming to an end, and it'll come to an end pretty soon. I always said I won't fight on past 35. I'm going to miss MMA when I'm gone, that's for sure, but I won't be fighting for too much longer."

Jackson is 34 this year, so he could feasibly fight for another year, but he admits each fight is becoming increasingly difficult to recover from.

"When I fight and I get beat up it takes a lot longer for me to heal these days, I'm getting old. After all, I'm just a human being," Rampage said. "Plus, I have lots of other things going on too.

"I'm still passionate about fighting, but I certainly ain't as passionate as I used to be. And there are plenty of other ways I can get paid without getting beat up. I get less privacy now too."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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