No one could anticipate that a single misunderstanding could have repercussions this dark. Arriving at the KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy for the “Knox Experience” show on August 23, Stuart Smith aka Syko Stu had approached Raja Jackson, thinking he was a wrestler. While in character, the military veteran, who only took up wrestling to help with his PTSD, then proceeded to strike UFC legend Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s son with a beer can. “[Jackson is] not a worker,” Stu was immediately informed, following which he apologized. Yet, Jackson had been simmering with anger beneath the surface.

Jackson’s grudge was only furthered when he was told he could be a part of the show, and then when he was asked by friend Andre Joel Hudson to “give [Stu] his receipt” (payback). So, when the time actually came for payback, the MMA fighter didn’t hold back. As caught on camera, Jackson sprang up from his first-row seat in the middle of the fight and approached Syko Stu from behind, picking and slamming him to the ground. The man, unconscious within the first five seconds, was rained at least 20 punches on his already bloody face as others attempted to separate the two. “He was choking on his own blood and teeth,” Douglas Malo, one of the wrestlers who stopped Raja, later said. Unfortunately, what ensued didn’t help Raja’s case one bit, especially with what his father had to say about the incident.

A day after the incident, MMA journalist Jed Meshew joined the latest edition of Submission Radio to discuss the incident. And, boy, did he not mince words. “He’s going to get arrested, and he is going to go to jail. That’s just what is going to happen and probably what should happen, right?…None of what happened is acceptable behavior, right? To do it for almost any reason would be unacceptable behavior, but then to sort of unequivocally give your reason as ‘people on the internet will think I’m a p—-‘ was like the worst possible excuse.”

Meshew further claimed that there were no grounds for defense. “Rampage’ out there be like, ‘This guy hit my son in the head.’ Okay, but there’s like a pretty clear time. It’s not like he hit your son in the head and then he clocked him. And then this was a crime of passion, right? Like, he hit him on the head, they apologized, squashed it, and then, the internet called him a p—- and he was like, ‘Well, can’t have people I don’t know think I’m gay or whatever. So, I have to go hit this dude,’ which is just like one of the most f—ing in–l, psycho s–t of all time.”

Notably, after the controversy on Saturday night, Raja immediately fled the spot, while Stu was rushed to a hospital. His father, in the meantime, took to X to write a lengthy note: “I want to clear up the misinformation about my son Raja. I’ve been confirmed that the wrestler ( Stewart Smith aka Syko Stu) is awake and stable. Raja was unexpectedly hit in the side of the head by him moments before Smith’s match, Raja was told that he could get his “payback”in the ring,i thought it was apart of the show.”

“It was bad judgement, and a work that went wrong. Raja is a MMA fighter not a pro wrestler and had no business involved in an event like this. I don’t condone my son’s actions AT ALL! He suffered a concussion from sparring only days ago and had no business doing anything remotely close to physical contact. As a father, im deeply concerned with his health AND the well being of Mr. Smith. That being said I’m very upset that any of this happened,but my main concern now is that Mr. Smith will make a speedy recovery.I apologize on his behalf and to KICK for the situation,” the tweet concluded.

Stu is “currently stable but in critical care” as informed by his family.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up for the wrestler, that has raised $57,956 of the $60,000 goal. As for Raja, he’s currently being probed by the LAPD for what has been classified as a felony battery. No arrests have been made.