Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson Says Fight With Lyoto Machida Was Almost Canceled

By Raj Giri | November 21, 2010 | Comments

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson defeated fellow former light heavyweight champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida via split-decision last night in the main event of UFC 123. After the bout, Jackson admitted to being sick and said he had a hard time belting out his trademark howl on the way to the cage.

"Man, I was horse as hell," Jackson recalled at the evening's post-fight press conference. "I couldn't even get my howl out the way I wanted to. It was rough."

Jackson admitted that the illness was serious enough that he had contemplated pulling out of the fight just days before the event.

"I'm just happy I made it to the fight," said Jackson. "None of you guys know this, but the fight was almost canceled a couple of days ago. I caught a fever from my son, and I was throwing up and had to cut weight," said Jackson. "But I didn't want to let my fans down. We don't always see eye-to-eye, but [UFC president Dana White] has always been there for me. I just couldn't tell Dana that I was pulling out of this fight. He probably would have cussed me the f--k out."

Full full results of last night's event, click here.