Jackson 'deeply concerned' as son injures wrestler

Quinton Jackson held the UFC light-heavyweight title from May 2007 to July 2008 and the last of his 13 UFC fights was in 2015

Former UFC champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson is "deeply concerned" after his son appeared to attack wrestler Stuart Smith and knock him unconscious at an event in California.

Smith - also known as Syko Stu - was scheduled to fight at a Knokx Pro Wrestling event that Raja Jackson attended.

Raja Jackson, a 25-year-old professional MMA fighter, was involved in two incidents with Smith that were shown on live streaming platform Kick.

First, Jackson was shown being hit on his head outside the venue by the US army veteran.

Then when Smith was fighting another opponent, Jackson climbed into the ring, picked him up and slammed him on to the canvas, which appeared to leave him unconscious.

Footage shows he then appeared to strike Smith repeatedly before being pulled off by other wrestlers.

Quinton Jackson reacted to the events on social media and said Smith was "awake and stable".

On Sunday night Smith's brother Andrew posted on social media: "Thank you everyone for your prayers, concerns, and kind words for my brother Stu.

"He's currently stable but in critical care. At this time we're focused on his recovery and appreciate all the support."

There has been no confirmation from the organisers about Smith's condition.

In wrestling terms, a 'work' is a fight that is staged or scripted, and Quinton Jackson said the incident was a "work that went wrong".

"Raja was unexpectedly hit on the side of the head by him moments before Smith's match," said the former UFC light-heavyweight champion.

"Raja was told that he could get his 'payback' in the ring. I thought it was a part of the show. It was bad judgement."

Jackson, 47, also said his son had suffered a concussion from sparring "only days ago" and had "no business doing anything remotely close to physical contact".

"Raja is an MMA fighter, not a pro wrestler, and had no business involved in an event like this," he added. "I don't condone my son's actions at all.

"As a father, I'm deeply concerned with his health and the wellbeing of Mr Smith. I'm very upset that any of this happened, but my main concern now is that Mr Smith will make a speedy recovery."

Quinton Jackson apologised to Smith and to Kick on behalf of his son, who has had three amateur and two pro MMA fights.

Knokx Pro is a wrestling school that has WWE ID designation, meaning WWE will provide it with support and opportunity. It has been approached for comment.

Correction: An earlier reference in this article to Raja Jackson being scheduled to fight Smith has been removed.