The wheels of justice slowed a bit Thursday as Quinton Jackson's pre-trial hearing was postponed until Oct. 24.As Jackson prepared to exit the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., with his lawyer, a female reporter from TMZ.com approached him asking for comment.
"Why you guys gotta do me like that?" Jackson told the reporter, glaring. "You guys always try to make me look stupid. That's the reason I don't talk to y'all. You try to make everybody look stupid. We're just people like everyone else."
An awkward pause ensued.
"I wrote that you were getting better," she responded, attempting her best smile. "Sometimes they just, you know, have to..."
Jackson continued glaring.
"He's the nicest client I've ever had," Jackson's attorney, Carol Lavacot, interrupted. "With my pro-bono mindset, I'd probably take the case for free. I've had thousands of clients, and he's the nicest one I've ever had."
Jackson finally smiled. "You're just being nice cause' I'm paying you a lot of money," he said with a laugh. The lawyer and reporter joined in nervously.
Whew, that was close.
When Jackson became a UFC star, his relationship with TMZ started cordial, but relations eventually soured. After the site posted some questionable off-the-cuff remarks of his outside a club, Jackson changed his tune. Things deteriorated further with TMZ's coverage of the car chase that landed him in the Orange County courthouse. Jackson was splashed all over the page, pictures of him arrested by Orange County police officers front and center.
Jackson just got back from the United Kingdom, where he helped Paul Kelly and Michael Bisping prepare for their fights at UFC 89 and 90, respectively. The former champ recently signed a management contract with Bisping's home gym, the Wolfslair.
Most celebrities chased by TMZ have more of a hate-hate relationship with the muckraking gossip site, so Jackson's reaction was not new. When your business is the superficial, you're bound to get on a person's bad side.
