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Impressed by the success of other wrestlers in MMA, Jackson decided to try his own hand at the sport. Jackson built up an impressive record of 10 wins and 1 loss fighting for a variety of smaller scale American promotions, including King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and Dangerzone.
Pride Fighting Championships[edit source | editbeta]
Japan's Pride organization in 2001 marketed Jackson as being a homeless person.[3] Jackson, still a relatively unknown fighter, first was matched at Pride 15 against fellow wrestler and Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba, who was at that time Pride's most prominent domestic fighter.[4] Jackson lost due to a rear naked choke from Sakuraba, but his performance opened the eyes of Pride's fan base and its executive office. Jackson captivated the Japanese fans with his exciting performance and also gained their respect and admiration for his valiant effort against the much more experienced Sakuraba.
After beating pro-wrestler Alexander Otsuka in a fight for the Battlarts promotion, Jackson was invited back for Pride 17 where he scored a knockout victory over Otsuka's training partner, Yuki Ishikawa. In his next fight, Jackson was disqualified for a low blow against Daijiro Matsui.
Jackson then went on to defeat Masaaki Satake, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kevin Randleman and Mikhail Illoukhine in successive Pride bouts. He also made forays into kickboxing with a pair of victories over kickboxer Cyril Abidi, under K-1 rules.[citation needed] The first kickboxing bout between Abidi and Jackson was on July 14, 2002. Many expected Jackson's wild style of striking would not translate into the K-1 ring, thinking he would be outclassed by such a schooled and disciplined striker as Abidi.[5] Instead, Jackson overwhelmed Abidi from the opening bell, and knocked him down less than a minute into the bout. Jackson then scored a hard underhand right to the chin of Abidi, knocking him out only 1:55 into the very first round.
Later in the year, Abidi wanted to prove that his loss to the undisciplined Jackson was nothing more than a fluke, and faced him on the New Year's Eve Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye card, again in a K-1 rules bout.[citation needed] Jackson laid a lot of criticism to rest by once again defeating Abidi, this time not by early knockout, but via a clear decision.[citation needed] It would be Jackson's last foray with kickboxing, as he returned to full-time MMA competition after his second win over Abidi.
Rivalry with Wanderlei Silva[edit source | editbeta]
See also: Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson
Around this time, Jackson began stating his intentions to capture the Pride Middleweight (205 lb/93 kg) title from Wanderlei Silva. In the opening round of Pride's 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix, Jackson won a split decision over Murilo Bustamante. Three months later, Jackson defeated UFC fighter Chuck Liddell in the tournament's semi-finals at Pride Final Conflict 2003 by corner stoppage, putting him in place to battle Silva in the tournament finals that night. Jackson fought for the championship against Silva in what was called Fight Of The Year by various MMA media.[who?] After taking Wanderlei Silva down and bloodying him, a stand-up was called by the referee and Jackson was stopped with a series of heavy knees to the head, leading to a referee stoppage.
Jackson continued his Pride career with a TKO victory over Ikuhisa Minowa at Pride Shockwave 2003. He then faced Ricardo Arona at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 with the winner to face Wanderlei Silva. Late in the first round Arona caught Jackson in a triangle choke, Jackson immediately picked up Arona and powerbombed him into the canvas earning the KO win.
Prior to his rematch with Silva, Jackson made headlines with the public announcement of his conversion to be a Christian. In the fight itself, Jackson floored Silva in the opening round and later scored a takedown which led to a series of knees and elbows at the end of the round. Jackson scored another takedown in the second round, but Silva escaped to his feet and proceeded to knock out Jackson with multiple undefended knee strikes to the head.
Jackson fought Silva again at UFC 92 winning by knockout when he caught Silva with a left hook to the head.
Final bouts with Pride Fighting Championships[edit source | editbeta]
Jackson's next two bouts were against Silva's Chute Boxe training camp partners. He won a split decision over Murilo "Ninja" Rua, but fell to Rua's younger brother, Shogun Rua, via TKO soccer kicks to the head [6][7]
Soon after his loss to Shogun, Jackson was contacted by veteran boxing and MMA trainer Juanito Ibarra, who saw potential in Jackson's natural abilities but viewed his profane reputation as a downfall. After a short conversation, Jackson entrusted Ibarra, a fellow born again Christian, with the managerial and training direction of his career.
Jackson then defeated Hirotaka Yokoi via TKO at Pride 30. In his final fight for Pride he won a unanimous decision over Yoon Dong-Sik at Pride 31.