Heavyweight doesn’t look good on Quinton Jackson.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion wasn’t remotely competitive in the Bellator 237 headliner, as he absorbed bursts of punching combinations from Fedor Emelianenko before being knocked out at the 2:44 mark of Round 1 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Saturday night.
“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted, but you know what, I knew one of us was going to get knocked out,” Jackson said in a video posted on his Instagram account that has since been deleted. “But I didn’t know it was going to be f—in’ me.”
“Rampage” checked in at 265 pounds prior to the bout, and he admitted the extra weight might’ve been a hindrance. Ultimately, Jackson plans to return to 205 pounds before he returns to action.
“It’s all good – I’m not in a bad mood,” Jackson said. “I just know what I got to do. I got to get my damn weight down. I felt like a hippopotamus out there. But that’s my fault. No excuses. It’s all right. I’ll be back. But I ain’t coming back at heavyweight. I’ve got to lose this weight.”
The 41-year-old Jackson has lost three of his last four Bellator appearances, although Saturday’s setback was his first KO/TKO defeat since 2005. Jackson’s last victory came in a second-round stoppage of Wanderlei Silva at Bellator 206.