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I once asked Chris Leben if he had any plans for the future.
This was in early 2005. Leben had just finished starring in the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show and was poised to make his official UFC debut a little more than a month later. I don't remember the exact circumstances or context of the question I asked him, but I do remember his response.
"Well," Leben said, without giving my question as much as two seconds contemplation. "I'm not going to become an architect any time soon, so I guess I'll just keep fighting."
I didn't realize it at the time, but Leben's response actually showed a surprising amount of self-awareness, a trait I was reminded of this week when Quinton "Rampage" Jackson abruptly announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in order to pursue a "second career" in acting.
From the moment he declared his departure from the sport in a hastily composed, badly edited blog on his personal Web site on Tuesday afternoon, you could almost hear the collective groan from observers. This is a bad decision, and everybody knows it except "Rampage."
And that's what reminded me of my conversation with Leben.
One of the many things I've always found fascinating about the mindset of the professional fighter is the delicate balance that must exist between self confidence and knowing your own limitations. Leben, at least for the five seconds it took to answer my question, understood those limitations. Rampage, on the other hand, clearly doesn't.
There is a great deal of hubris required in being a pro fighter. In order to make it in the fight game, a fighter must believe that he is going to be successful every time he steps into the cage. He has to know in his heart that he is the toughest SOB walking the face of the earth. He has to consider himself capable of anything. This attitude is a necessity. Doubt is not an option. Confidence bordering on cockiness is merely a prerequisite for survival.
Leben, for example, likely honestly believed that he was going to defeat Anderson Silva when the pair met-up in June of 2006. He had to, or else he had no business getting the cage in the first place.
In the same way, I'm sure that "Rampage" Jackson honestly believes that he is currently on the verge of becoming a major movie star.
He believes it in spite of his complete inexperience as a thespian, the numerous athletes who've failed in similar quests before him and over the objections of nearly every one of his fans, the media and his former boss.
He knows it for certain, in the same way Leben knew he was going to knock Silva out with one of those looping, out-of-the-back-pocket left hooks he loves to throw.
And that's where knowing your limitations becomes important.
The truth is, Leben was never going to beat Silva and everyone – trainers, fans, promoters, maybe even "The Crippler" too, deep down in the basement of his soul – knew it. Likewise, Jackson is not going to be a movie star.
He will reportedly star as B.A. Baracus in the big-screen remake of the "A-Team" television show next year. He may do well. He'll probably do poorly and I am not at all certain how many more major movie roles will come his way.
Jackson may be able to piece together a living making low-budget clunkers and it will likely turn out to be far easier on his body than fighting. But he will probably never succeed in acting the way he did in MMA.
Eventually, perhaps six months or a year from now, he'll return to the cage with nothing to show for his stint away but some bad movie reels and wasted time. And that makes us all feel bad.
You can't tell Jackson that, naturally. That'd be like telling a guy he was about to lose a fight. You'd never find a real pro who'd believe you.
Chad Dundas blogs about mixed martial arts for The Sporting News and writes a weekly MMA column for CraveOnline. He lives in Missoula, Montana.
