During a recent episode of Jake Shields’ Podcast with guest Bryce Mitchell, UFC veteran Jake Shields shared his firsthand account of being present when Rampage Jackson’s son, Raja Jackson, was involved in a serious assault incident that made headlines.
Shields provided exclusive details about Rampage’s reaction and defended his longtime friend against public criticism.
“I was with Rampage when his son did that terrible beating,” Shields revealed during the conversation. “And that was sad and all, but Rampage was furious and mad.”
The former Strikeforce champion explained that he witnessed Rampage’s immediate reaction to the footage of his son’s actions. “I’m watching that with him and he freaked out,” Shields stated.
He described how others present at the time attempted to downplay the severity of the situation to the former UFC light heavyweight champion.
“His guys are trying to be like, ‘It wasn’t that bad, Rampage. It wasn’t that bad,'” Shields recounted. “He looks at me. ‘Was it bad, Jake?’ Yeah, Rampage. It was bad.”
Shields emphasized that while others were trying to minimize the incident, he gave Rampage honest feedback.
“These guys are lying to him. They’re trying to say it wasn’t a big deal. It turned into a bigger deal than I thought, but they were like trying to be like…,” he said, noting the uncomfortable position of those around Rampage during the incident.
According to Shields, Rampage’s anger was immediate and genuine. “He was very angry,” Shields confirmed, pushing back against any suggestion that the legendary UFC star condoned his son’s actions.
Shields recalled advising Rampage to address the situation directly rather than avoiding it. “They didn’t want him to like go home cuz he was so upset and like no, you should probably go deal with this Rampage. This is like really bad,” he explained.
Shields found himself caught in controversy after making comments defending Rampage’s position as a father during the aftermath of the incident.
“I made the little comment like, you know, a father loves his son. It’s his job to defend his son. And I got attacked and berated for like a month,” Shields revealed.
He recalled the pressure he faced to distance himself from Rampage. “People wanted me to be like, denounce Rampage. It’s like, go f**k yourself. You know, what his son did was obviously bad, but I’m not going to denounce Rampage.”
Shields maintained that the situation was more complex than public perception suggested. “It’s tricky when you know your friends are in these situations where clearly what his son did was bad, but I’m not going to pass the blame,” he explained. “It’s also your job to like protect your children. It gets complicated when they do bad things. And that’s all I was saying. This is a complicated situation. That’s all I said.”
Shields was emphatic that Rampage did not approve of his son’s actions, contrary to some public narratives. “People act like he was condoning that. No he was very angry,” Shields insisted.
