It is happening like crazy in the MMA world. Popular MMA fighters are moving into acting roles. Hollywood is calling on the likes of Gina Carano, Cung Le, Kimbo Slice, Georges St. Pierre and Rampage Jackson to play tough guy roles in their movies. While it is proof of the growing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts, UFC President Dana White is not very pleased with this new acting fighter fad.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is the most recent UFC fighter to accept an acting role. Jackson has, according to sources, accepted the role of B.A. Baracus in the A-Team Movie Remake. Rumors are flying that Jackson’s new acting career could be causing a delay in his match up with Rashad Evans. When asked his opinion of this at a pre UFC 102 press conference, here is what Dana White said:
“I hate it with a [expletive] passion,” White said when asked about UFC fighters who take movie roles. “‘You’re a fighter; you’re not a movie star.’ It’s so [expletive] funny because fighters want to be movie stars, and movie stars want to act like they’re fighters. ‘Get a [expletive] grip. You’re a fighter, and you’re a [expletive] movie star. Alright?’”
“‘Guess what Rashad Evans is thinking about right now,’” White said he plans to tell Jackson. “‘He’s thinking about beating your [expletive] ass. He’s not sitting around thinking about how him and his mom used to watch the [expletive] ‘Love Boat’ together and (how) he wants to get the role of Isaac the bartender.
“‘Get a [expletive] grip, dude. You’re going to make a lot of money. You ain’t going to make a lot of money playing B.A. Baracus on ‘The A-Team.’ Jesus Christ. This [expletive] drives me [expletive] nuts.’ So yeah, I’m not a big fan of fighters doing movies. When your career is over, if you turn into a movie star, that’s awesome.”
