NEED TO KNOW
MMA fighter Raja Jackson was arrested on Thursday, Sept. 18 in Los Angeles on a felony charge, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s websiteMore than 5,000 people signed a petition calling for Jackson’s arrest after he brutally attacked wrestler Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith on Aug. 23Jackson is being held on $50,000 bail, per the sheriff’s department
MMA fighter Raja Jackson was arrested in Los Angeles nearly one month after an attack on Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith that left the wrestler hospitalized.
Jackson, the 25-year-old son of former UFC star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, was arrested on a felony charge on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 18, according to records from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
He is currently being held on $50,000 bail.
Additional details about his arrest and charges were not made available.
Raja Jackson via Instagram.
Raja Jackson/Instagram
Jackson’s arrest comes nearly one month after the Aug. 23 event where he brutally beat Smith in the ring at an independent pro wrestling event.
The incident and its aftermath was captured on Jackson’s own Kick livestream. Following the circulation of the footage online — and Smith’s wife confirming he suffered “a serious head injury” and trauma to his face — many called for Jackson’s arrest.
A petition on Change.org started on Aug. 26 calls for Jackson’s arrest earned more than 5,000 signatures.
Logan Paul shared that he believed Jackson “belongs in jail” on the Sept. 10 episode of his podcast Impaulsive.
“I firmly, 10,000% believe he belongs in jail,” Paul, 30, said. “Assault is an understatement. He tried to kill a man. And it was live-streamed on his Kick channel.”
Smith’s wife revealed his injuries in a post on Instagram after he was released from the hospital on Aug. 31. Smith “sustained a serious head injury and was unconscious upon arrival at the ER” after Jackson continued punching him in the head during the encounter.
“His injuries include 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,” the statement said. “He has a long road of recovery ahead, but he remains in good spirits despite everything he has been through.”
Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith.
Syko Stu/Instagram
Jackson’s father Quinton spoke out about his son twice publicly following the backlash directed at his son. In a now-deleted Instagram post on Sept. 1, the former UFC star said he’s “sick of being quiet and letting all the low IQ people fall for clickbait.”
“Yes my son took things too far, and I’m pissed at him for being a POS and the way he handled it,” Quinton, 47, wrote. “But if psycho Stu wasn’t drunk and wouldn’t have hit my son over the head with a (real beer can) while he was live streaming on his own stream then Knox wouldn’t have felt like they had to make things right by letting Raja get his ‘get back’ in the ring!”