Quinton Jackson explains why he turned down title with "Shogun" Rua; criticizes the champion for comments

“ufc 126: Silva vs. Belfort” changed a lot of things in the foreseeable future in the mixed martial arts world.

Anderson Silva continued his reign of dominance by deftly defeating former teammate Vitor Belfort with a first-round knockout, defending his UFC middleweight title once again.

Forrest Griffin has now extended a two-fight win streak for himself inside the octagon with a dominant performance turned in over former titleholder Rich “Ace” Franklin.

Meanwhile, Jon Jones submitted then-undefeated light heavyweight star Ryan Bader with a second-round guillotine choke. The win came with an unexpected prize, earning Jones the 205-pound title shot when an injured Rashad Evans bowed out of the championship bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua–who insists that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was initially offered the fight, however turned it down immediately after.

Jackson didn’t take too kindly that the Brazilian took to the media to reveal the proposed bout.

MMAJunkie.com caught up with the former light heavyweight champion, who was clearly agitated when he learned that Rua seemed to be questioning Jackson’s desire to fight. Quinton is already scheduled to be facing contender Thiago Silva at UFC 130 in May, and should “Rampage” had agreed to step in on short notice to face Mauricio, he would have only six-weeks to prepare for the bout. He currently is walking around at 250-pounds and is in nowhere near fighting shape.

“It’s not enough time to get ready for a five-round fight,” said Jackson.

“Dana knows that. And ‘Shogun,’ he’s a fighter, and he should know that. He shouldn’t even go and say [expletive] like that with him being a fighter. He saw me at the fight this weekend. Everybody saw how big I am.”

Everyone knows that Quinton isn’t exactly the prototypical fighter who stays in fighting shape year-round. When he’s not inside the cage, he’s enjoying himself elsewhere, which is evident to his heavy frame that would put even some heavyweight fighters to shame. To cut 45-pounds in six weeks on top of preparing for the technical prowess of a fight with some as dangerous as Rua is asking a little too much.

And Jackson knows all too well how dangerous the Muay Thai specialist is, having lost to the Brazilian more than five years ago when they were both under the PRIDE banner in Japan, where Rua TKO’d the enigmatic light heavyweight fighter inside of the first-round.

So, MMA peeps, what did you think of Jackson’s comments? Do you agree that it was a little bit premature for Rua to question whether or not Jackson wanted to fight, let alone reveal that Jones was second choice to “Rampage”? Sound off in the comment section below.