I don't think Rampage leaving was BS either. He saw a way to make money in Hollywood and it's much easier than getting hit in the face. I don't blame him for trying his hand at acting - but he shouldn't have agreed to coach TUF if he wasn't going to go through with the actual fight the season was built around. Besides - Rampage should know that coaching TUF and then KO'ing Rashad Evans can only raise his visibility in Hollywood and make him more marketable. At least wait til after the Evans fight before you leave.
Totally agree and I think that was his plan, but then the other part of the equation took over (Pride) and pushed him over the edge. But I completely agree that he had an obligation to fight rashad before leaving.
You're point is valid. His execution of the idea though, is just not very well done; you have a very short window to fight, so a rather big interruption in that window to act is going to hurt your fighting career, and as a result of that, your future acting. Fighters don't get hired for their acting ability, they get hired for their fame, losing fights hurts your fame, acting increases your odds of losing fights. Also guys like Randy and Cung Le worked with acting coaches for years before trying to act.
yea and i hope the ref let it go for a little longer when evans is on the ground getting his face smashed by rampage