“They won’t say ‘I’m African Brazilian’,” Rampage Jackson and Vicente Luque discuss the non-existent racial divide in Brazil

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson shares his admiration for Brazil's inclusive identity, contrasting it with the racial classifications common in the United States.

“They won’t say ‘I’m African Brazilian’,” Rampage Jackson and Vicente Luque discuss the non-existent racial divide in Brazil

Rampage Jackson and Vicente Luque discuss racial divide in the USA and Brazil (Image via: YouTube)

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson is a legend of MMA, mainly due to his impressive performances in Pride. He also held the UFC light heavyweight championship and has also fought Jon Jones. Jackson now co-hosts the JAXXON podcast, where UFC welterweight Vicente Luque was the recent guest. On the podcast, the duo discussed a lot of topics, but their conversation started with Brazil.

Luque was born in New Jersey in the U.S.A. to a Brazilian mother and a Chilean father. Moreover, Luque is very proud of his Brazilian nationality. Jackson is also a fan of Brazil as he had good experiences training there. This is what Jackson said about Brazil.

It's about class, not about race. So, if you ask a black guy in Brazil, 'What are you?' he'll say, 'I'm Brazilian.' You ask a black guy in America, 'What are you?' He'll say, 'I'm African American,' you know what I'm saying? A totally different—like, they won't say, 'I'm African Brazilian.' And that's what I love about Brazil. That's what I liked about it when I was there.
Vicente Luque via JAXXON Podcast
YouTube video

Luque revealed the surprise he had when he first moved to the USA to train where there was a racial divide. It was a stark contrast from his training camps in Brazil. However, he did admit that there is a class divide between the rich and the poor.

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Luque last fought Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Vegas 78 and won unanimously. He had a fight scheduled at UFC 296 against Ian Garry, but Garry withdrew due to Pneumonia. Luque had a health scare after his first knockout loss, which was against Geoff Neal at UFC Vegas 59. However, he came back after proper recovery and defeated Dos Anjos.

Vicente Luque on the UFC 294 co-main event

UFC 294 had its main and co-main event in need of short-notice replacements. Alexander Volkanovski stepped in on the main event on 12 days’ notice, and Kamaru Usman did the same on the co-main event on ten days notice. Usman fought Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 and lost via majority decision.

Vicente Luque on UFC 294 co-main event
Kamaru Usman and Khamzat Chimaev (Image via UFC)

Vicente Luque is a training partner of Usman, and he believed that Usman would’ve won if the fight had been five rounds. UFC veteran Matt Brown shared the same sentiment. On the JAXXON podcast, co-hosted by Rampage Jackson, Luque remarked that Usman gained momentum as the rounds went on at UFC 294. Moreover, he also remarked that Khamzat Chimaev had a downside as the fight continued.

Luque has not fought for the title but was the emergency backup fighter at the UFC 268 welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Even though he trained with Usman, Luque stated Georges St-Pierre was the best welterweight fighter ever.

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