'Rampage' Jackson on Cormier: 'Daniel needs to watch what he says'

MEMPHIS – On one hand, Quinton Jackson doesn’t seem to care what Daniel Cormier puts on his Instagram feed. And on the other …

“Rampage” on Thursday responded to a recent Cormier post that lauded his friend and teammate, Muhammed Lawal, ahead of Lawal’s fight against Jackson on Saturday at Bellator 120.

In the post, Cormier, who fights in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, said he believes Lawal will end Jackson’s career.

Jackson (34-11 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) and Lawal (12-3 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) meet in the main event of Bellator 120, the promotion’s first pay-per-view event. The fight is the light heavyweight tournament final, and the winner advances to a title shot against champion Emanuel Newton.

“Why do I care about Daniel Cormier?” Jackson asked on Thursday after a short workout in Memphis, his home city. “Is he in my league? He’s just talking ’cause that’s his boy. That’s what people do. I don’t think about stuff like that. That don’t bother me. I don’t care about what other people say. I know what I’m going to do to ‘Mo.’ I don’t care what Daniel says. Daniel can’t get in the cage and fight for ‘Mo,’ can he? OK.”

That’s the part that would make one think “Rampage” doesn’t care. The part that counters that, though, came at the tail end of his meeting with media members.

“Daniel needs to watch what he says before I smack the taste out of his mouth,” said Jackson, a former UFC fighter who has won both his fights by knockout since signing with Bellator in 2013.

Lawal and Cormier both wrestled at Oklahoma State University, and they both fought for Strikeforce. But Cormier eventually moved to the UFC, and Lawal didn’t get that chance after Strikeforce cut him loose after comments he made about a Nevada State Athletic Commission member.

Lawal instead signed with Bellator, where he is 4-2. His two losses were to Newton – once in a tournament final and once for the interim light heavyweight belt. Now he gets one more crack at a tourney victory in order to get a third shot at Newton.

He clearly has one big-name supporter in Cormier, who next week fights Dan Henderson at UFC 173 in Las Vegas.

Just don’t ask Jackson if he’ll likely ever be a supporter of Cormier.

Bellator 120 takes place Saturday at Landers Center in Southaven, Miss., just outside Jackson’s home city of Memphis. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on Spike TV and Spike.com.

For the latest on Bellator 120, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Quinton Jackson)