MMA fighter Raja Jackson arrested on felony charge after assault of pro wrestler at August show

Raja Jackson, the son of ex-UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, was arrested on a felony charge in Los Angeles nearly a month after he attacked a pro wrestler at a show, L.A. County inmate records show.

Jackson, 25, was arrested Thursday and is being held on $50,000 bail, according to booking records. It was not immediately clear if Jackson has retained legal representation.

The Los Angeles Police Department did not immediately respond to a request to confirm that the arrest was in connection with the August assault of wrestler Stuart Smith, whose ring name is Syko Stu.

Video of the incident at a KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy event on Aug. 23 showed Jackson entering the ring during a match and slamming Smith to the mat before mounting his opponent and punching him in the face more than two dozen times, prompting other wrestlers to pull Jackson away.

Police responded to the event and said at the time that a felony battery report had been submitted, but that no arrests had been made.

Raja Jackson assaults wrestler Syko Stu during a live streamed event.
Raja Jackson assaults wrestler Syko Stu during a live streamed event. via Kick

Smith, who was unconscious after the attack, was released from the hospital and was home resting as of an Aug. 31 Facebook post.

He suffered trauma to his jaws, a laceration to his lip, a maxilla bone fracture, and the loss of several teeth after the attack, according to the post, which said Smith had a long road to recovery.

Smith did not immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment on Jackson’s arrest.

The assault, which KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy said was not planned, appeared to stem from an incident earlier in the evening. Video showed Smith apparently smashing a can on Jackson’s head, causing Jackson to get angry, but another video appeared to show the pair making up.

A third video appeared to show another wrestler telling Jackson to give someone a “receipt” — a legitimate strike or attack, usually as a form of retribution for a wayward spot during a match.

“What was supposed to be a planned and agreed upon wrestling spot, turned into a selfish, irresponsible act of violence against Mr. Smith,” KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy said at the time. “This egregious act is reprehensible and never should have occurred.”

Quinton Jackson condemned his son’s actions at the time, calling the incident “bad judgement, and a work that went wrong,” in a post on X. The term “work” is used in wrestling to refer to something that is scripted.

“Raja is a MMA fighter not a pro wrestler and had no business [being] involved in an event like this,” the elder Jackson said. “I don’t condone my son’s actions AT ALL!” He added that he was “very upset that any of this happened.”


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