Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has announced he’s severed personal contact with his son, Raja Jackson, following a disturbing in-ring attack that left pro wrestler Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith hospitalized with severe injuries.
In an incident that made headlines around the world in major news outlets, 25-year-old Raja stormed the ring during a KnokX Pro Wrestling event in California on August 23 and violently assaulted Smith — slamming him unconscious and delivering more than 20 punches to the head.
The entire incident was live-streamed by Raja on the platform Kick, PEOPLE reports.
The shocking moment reportedly stemmed from a prior altercation where Smith had hit Raja with a beer can — intended as a scripted part of a storyline that spiraled out of control. A subsequent video later emerged showing Smith apologising for the beer can shot and stating that he thought Raja was “a worker” (meaning he was ‘in’ on the story). Raja can be heard telling Smith that he “appreciated” the apology, before another wrestler said how they would work the moment into Smith’s match later that night.
However, while it is believed that Raja was only intended to take down Smith in the ring before being dragged off by another wrestler – which would have been scripted and part of the show – he instead laid in a brutal attack that resulted in Smith being KO’d in the ring.
Smith suffered major injuries, including trauma to both the upper and lower jaws, a fractured maxilla bone, a laceration to his upper lip, and the loss of several teeth. He was unconscious upon arrival at the ER and has since been released from the hospital to continue his recovery at home.
The Los Angeles Police Department are now investigating the incident as a case of suspected felony battery, per the Los Angeles Times.
A joint Instagram post from Smith and his wife, Contessa Patterson, confirmed his later release and thanked supporters: “We are deeply grateful for all the love and support we’ve received during this time. Thank you to everyone who has contributed in any way — whether through monetary donations, food, flowers, or gifts. Your kindness means more than words can express.”
Despite the family’s positive outlook, the road ahead will be long. “He has a long road of recovery ahead,” the statement read, “but he remains in good spirits despite everything he has been through.”
Now, appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Rampage Jackson spoke candidly about the impact of his son’s actions.
“I don’t want to hear about Raja right now. I’m mad at him,” Jackson said. “He’s my son, I love him deeply, but he dishonored my name. I can’t even put into words how upset I am with my son… I’ve been in this sport for a long time, and when he did what he did, everything said: ‘MMA’s Rampage’s son.’ That’s my name, man. I don’t do that.”
Rampage revealed he’s still covering Raja’s legal expenses, but made clear he hasn’t spoken to his son since the incident came to light.
“I’m not disowning him forever. I just haven’t spoken to him,” he said. “I spoke to him after the s**t happened, and he hid the fact that he did this. He put my other kids in danger. I’m not saying I’ll never speak to him again, I just can’t talk to him right now. I just need some time… I’m very disappointed in Raja.”
Rampage was then asked if he believed his son should go to jail, to which, he said: “Yeah. If the judge thinks he should go to jail, yeah. He should go to jail so he’ll learn not to do this s**t no more. You have to control your emotions. He should go to jail, not prison, but he should do a little time, get some therapy, and learn from this.”
“Raja should do time,” the father added. “Do community service, and go to anger management classes. See some therapy. It wasn’t attempted murder. He wasn’t trying to kill that guy. Raja probably didn’t even know how bad he hurt him. He wasn’t trying to kill him.”
Raja has not commented publicly on the incident.
Rampage initially defended his son online, placing partial blame on Smith. He claimed Smith struck Raja in the head with a real beer can while Raja was live streaming, and suggested the promotion allowed Raja a chance to retaliate.
“Yes my son took things too far, and I’m p***ed at him for being a POS and the way he handled it,” Rampage wrote on Instagram, adding that Raja had suffered a concussion in training days before and “had no business doing anything remotely close to physical contact.”
He also alleged that Smith was intoxicated at the time and that if Raja had gone to the police after the beer can incident, the event could have been shut down and legal action taken instead.
“But no, my son is not as smart as I’d liked for him to be,” he continued, revealing that his family has since received racist threats in the wake of the controversy.
More than $220,000 has been raised via a GoFundMe set up to help the medical bills and support the Smith’s family.
However, during his interview with Helwani, Rampage stated that Smith’s injuries were overexagerated – potentially for the GoFundMe.
“I saw a post from him and he was released from the hospital. I heard he was released from the hospital two or three days before they sent that s**t. I’ve been checking up on it. People were hyping it up like he was in worse condition than he was,” Rampage claimed. “He wasn’t. Just knocked some teeth out and stuff like that. If that guy was f***ed up so bad, why would they let his opponent pin him before they got him help? The whole situation is f***ed up. I think people milked stuff for the GoFundMe. I’m sorry to say it. People milk s**t. It’s the world we live in.”
As of this writing, Smith had not pressed charges.
Featured image credit: YouTube/The Ariel Helwani Show/X (screenshots)
