During a recent online broadcast, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson offered some pointed advice at a young looksmaxxer. He urged the 20-year-old to step away from PEDs before it was too late.
“Stop doing st**oids, look at your stretch marks, I see it. I know everything,” Jackson told him bluntly, referencing the stretch marks that are commonly associated with rapid, chemically assisted muscle growth.
Rather than lecturing, Jackson drew on his own experience competing against heavily muscled opponents during his years competing in Japan’s PRIDE FC.
“I used to compete in Japan, I used to compete against st**oid freaks just like you,” he said, before making it clear that the issue was not intimidation but long-term consequences.
Jackson pointed to his own coach as a living example of what is achievable without chemical assistance. “My coach teaches me, my coach, he looks like you, he’s ripped like a motherf**ker. He does it naturally, you can do it naturally. There’s ways you can do it naturally, but you’re too young to be taking this stuff, it’s gonna mess you up in the long run.”
When the young man revealed he had only been on the cycle for two months, Jackson’s tone shifted slightly toward encouragement. “Hey, it’s not too late,” he said. “Only reason I’m saying this stuff is because I care.”
Jackson did leave a small window open regarding one category. When asked about peptides, he acknowledged, “Peptides are okay,” but quickly returned to his core message: “Leave the st**oids alone. You’re too young. Your body produced all this stuff, you don’t need it. Eat a lot of protein, cut that stuff out.”
The exchange was particularly notable given Jackson’s own complicated relationship with PEDs, which has recently come to light. In a now-viral conversation with fitness personality Bradley Martyn, Jackson appeared genuinely caught off guard when Martyn pointed out that testosterone, which Jackson had been taking, is itself classified as a PED.
“Even though I was on testosterone, I was still a natty,” Jackson had said, reflecting his long-held belief, to which Martyn responded simply, “They lied.”
The revelation exposed a distinction that Jackson had maintained in his own mind for years, drawing a firm line between testosterone and what he considered to be “ste**ids.” When Martyn clarified that “testosterone is a st**oid hormone,” Jackson pushed back: “No, it’s not. That’s what I was told.”
Brendan Schaub, who appeared alongside Jackson on the Jaxxon Podcast, found himself in similarly murky territory during an episode. After crushing the podcast’s grip strength record with a reading of 176.5, Schaub was asked whether he was all natural. His answer opened the door to a candid and comedic back-and-forth.
“I’m on peptides. I’m on peptides, BPC-157 then T,” he explained, insisting all the while that testosterone did not qualify as a st**oid. “But testosterone, it’s natural. Your body produces it, so it’s natural,” Schaub reasoned, prompting Jackson to respond with dry wit: “Sure, man. Whatever you tell yourself.”
The broadcast episode closed with a funny moment. Just as Jackson had finished delivering his earnest warning about PED use to the young man, someone in the room tossed out a question: “Hey, was Jon Jones on steroids?”
Jackson went noticeably quiet. After a pause, all he managed was, “I don’t know,” before adding, “He got popped, but I don’t know.”
