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Former UFC fighter Rampage Jackson’s son, Raja, was arrested for the alleged brutal beatdown of a professional wrestler that was livestreamed.
Last month, Raja Jackson climbed into the ring and body-slammed Stuart Smith, known professionally as Syko Stu, before beating the apparently unconscious wrestler at the KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy.
The assault was widely viewed online in footage livestreamed Saturday and disseminated across social media.
Jackson was booked on a felony charge and is being held on $50,000 bail.
The academy said Jackson assaulted Smith during a match, going off the normal script to commit the beating. Jackson threw at least 20 punches to the head of the apparently unconscious wrestler.
Smith sustained a “serious head injury, … trauma to both the upper and lower jaws, a laceration to his upper lip and a fracture to the maxilla bone, which unfortunately resulted in the loss of several teeth,” according to a post on his Instagram.
KnokX Pro Entertainment & Academy posted a statement on its Facebook page condemning Jackson’s act.
“What was supposed to be a planned and agreed-upon wrestling spot turned into a selfish, irresponsible act of violence against Mr. Smith,” the statement read. “This egregious act is reprehensible and never should have occurred. In the 17 years of operation of KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy, there has never been anything as heinous take place such as this and we apologize to our patrons and fans.”
Rampage Jackson said the assault was part of a previously planned performance that “went wrong” after Smith apparently angered Raja Jackson by unexpectedly hitting him in the side of the head earlier in the day before the match.
“Raja was told that he could get his ‘payback’ in the ring,” Rampage Jackson wrote. “I thought it was a part of the show. It was bad judgement, and a work that went wrong. Raja is a MMA fighter not a pro wrestler and had no business involved in an event like this. I don’t condone my son’s actions AT ALL! He suffered a concussion from sparring only days ago and had no business doing anything remotely close to physical contact.”
Rampage Jackson was the UFC light heavyweight champion in 2007 and 2008, and he fought for several MMA promotions until 2019. He has also worked as a pro wrestler and an actor, most notably playing B.A. Baracus in the film reboot of “The A-Team” in 2010.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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