Rampage Jackson Says Dana White Changed UFC Contract After $7 Million Payday

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson claimed that Dana White changed the terms of his contract after he was paid $7 million for his victory over Chuck Liddell in 2007. 

Jackson knocked out Liddell to capture the Light Heavyweight title on the night, having joined the UFC after it acquired WFA and the contract that promotion held with the fighter. His title win came in only his second fight in UFC, having avenged a previous PRIDE defeat against Marvin Eastman in his debut three months earlier. 

But during a stream with Adin Ross, Jackson said that his payday for the Liddell fight raised eyebrows with higher-ups, after Ross contested his claim that White doesn’t like to pay fighters what they are worth. 

“Dana don’t like to pay people what they’re worth,” Jackson said. That prompted Ross to question him over the $7 million he was supposed to have been paid for the fight. 

“When they found out I made that type of money, I’mma say it, I’mma say it, they changed my contract without me knowing,” he explained. “No more after that.”

When asked why he was allowed to make that much to begin with, Jackson pointed to the acquisition of WFA: “They bought my contract from another organization, they weren’t paying attention.”

Jackson left UFC on a three-fight losing skid in 2013, beginning with a Light Heavyweight title challenge against Jon Jones in 2011, and went on to fight with Bellator while also pursuing a foray into professional wrestling with TNA. He returned to UFC for one fight during a contract dispute with Bellator in 2015, but returned to Bellator once that issue had been resolved the next year to round out his career with the now-defunct promotion in 2019.