UFC under pressure to drop Rampage Jackson from Jan. 26 fight

Advocacy groups want Quinton "Rampage" Jackson removed from his upcoming UFC fight. (Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)

The UFC received a letter signed by various advocacy groups on Thursday calling for Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to be dropped from an upcoming fight because of repeated comments made by him towards female reporters that the letter says is "denigrating" towards women. The letter also cites a video posted to YouTube in which Jackson demonstrates how to rape a woman in a parking garage.

The groups want Jackson to be removed from his Jan. 26 fight on Fox and said the UFC must hold its fighters accountable for their actions and adopt a "meaningful" code of conduct:

"The UFC must begin holding its fighters accountable for their actions and adopt a meaningful code of conduct…The behavior of Rampage Jackson, UFC President Dana White and other UFC fighters is unacceptable.  Misogynistic and sexist behavior can no longer be tolerated in the UFC.“

The letter also calls upon Fox executives and UFC sponsors to demand that Jackson be removed from the fight.

Athanasia Papaioannou, an Assistant Director of the University of Illinois Chicago Women’s Leadership and Resource Center, called Jackson's comments and actions "appalling" and was one of many people to sign the letter:

“This is truly appalling and undermines the work we do every day."