Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The Mall of America has its fair share of unique attractions for an indoor shopping facility. An aquarium, an amusement park, a church, even a wedding chapel reside as tenants among the 2.5 million square feet of space.

On Thursday, for a few hours at least, the UFC added their brand of entertainment to the things worth seeing in the sprawling shopping haven, as the organization held its first-ever public pre-fight press conference before UFC 87.

And they brought with them a surprise: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who hasn’t been heard from since a traffic accident and 72-hour mental evaluation, accompanied UFC President Dana White to the podium before the focus shifted to the business of fights.

“I’ve got to keep an eye on him at all times,” White joked.

Jackson received a warm reception from the crowd filling the mall rotunda and briefly took the microphone saying, “I’m OK. Everybody makes mistakes sometimes and I made a mistake.”

Jackson was initially arrested on July 15 following a Costa Mesa, Calif., traffic chase and charged with felony evading, reckless driving, and hit and run after police say he led them on a three-mile chase while they attempted to pull him over.

During the chase, police allege that Jackson drove on the center median, passed through red lights and drove on sidewalks, causing pedestrians to "flee in terror." He also allegedly struck at least two vehicles while weaving his Ford F-250 in and out of traffic. The Daily Pilot, a local Costa Mesa newspaper, later reported that a woman hit by Jackson in the incident suffered amiscarriage.

The next day, Jackson was taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation following an incident during which friends told police they were concerned about his “unusual” behavior.

White told the crowd that Jackson was mentally fine but had been fasting and was unable to sleep for five days, drinking only energy drinks, and that doctors said he was suffering from delirium at the time.

“Obviously Rampage has some legal issues he’s going to have to deal with, but we’re going to support him,” White told NBCSports.com. “As far as how this impacts his career, we just wanted to make sure that he was OK, and now he’s OK. For everything else, we really don’t know.”

Jackson thanked White for his support in the matter. At the time of the incident, White was sitting in his Las Vegas office, and he immediately drove to the airport to help Rampage.

“Dana had my back all the way through this,” Jackson said.

Video   Solid as a Brock Brock Lesnar talks about mistakes in the past and how he hopes to never repeat them. NBC Sports

Lorenzo Fertitta, who is a co-owner of UFC parent company Zuffa LLC, also voiced support for the former light-heavyweight champ, saying, “We were very concerned about him during the situation. We’re going to help him however we can, not because he’s a good fighter, but because Rampage is genuinely a good person.”

During the course of the press conference, Jackson sat squarely behind White, occasionally waving to fans and smiling at the assembled crowd. Jackson is expected to attend the event Saturday night as well.

Both Lesnar and Huerta, who live locally in the state, received large ovations from the crowd, but the biggest cheer was reserved for welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, who is defending his belt against Jon Fitch.

The contrast between the personal styles of the champ and challenger is striking. While St. Pierre wore a dark pinstriped suit, Fitch was casual in a t-shirt, jeans with a Bob Marley belt buckle, and flip flops.

Their respective games have more in common than their styles. Both men have excellent wrestling, diverse striking and very good ground games. But while St. Pierre has been in the title picture and universally considered one of the most complete fighters in the world for a couple years, Fitch has gone somewhat unnoticed, lost in the division amongst other well-known names like Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Diego Sanchez and Josh Koscheck.

“I felt I was ready for a title shot about a year ago, but there is so much traffic in this division,” Fitch said. “Hands down, it’s the toughest weight class in the world.”

St. Pierre certainly isn’t taking the threat lightly after failing in his first title defense in April 2007.

“He’s one of the greatest fighters in the world, so it’s a great matchup for me,” he said. “He never stops. He’s like a machine.”

Both the Florian-Huerta and Lesnar-Herring matchups promise to be action-packed. The UFC’s lightweights always seem to put on a show, and both Florian and Huerta are on a roll. Lesnar has earned a lot of hype since entering the UFC, but he also knows he needs a win to stay relevant, while Herring is a fighter who loves the glow of the spotlight, even when he’s in enemy territory, as he will be on Saturday against the hometown Lesnar.

“I’m always looking to add something to my highlight reel,” Herring said. “Brock’s a tough guy though, and I’m sure we’ll put on a good show, and maybe I’ll win over some of these Minnesota fans.”

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