Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is set to scrap with Light Heavy Weight power puncher Fabio Maldonado at UFC 186 in Montreal, Quebec in April. It would be Jackson's first fight in the UFC since he left the organization in June of 2013 for greener pastures. On June 4, 2013 it was announced that Jackson had signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC's competitor Bellator MMA and the other Viacom owned property Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling (TNA Wrestling).
Jackson was set to headline the organization's first ever pay per view event against fellow former UFC veteran Tito Ortiz on November 2, 2013 at Bellator 106. However, after Ortiz had to pullout due to injury the event was completely scrapped and was reformatted to air on Spike TV. Ortiz was replaced with another UFC alumnus Joey Beltran and Jackson debuted for the organization at Bellator 108 where he won by technical knockout in the first round. In total Jackson fought three times under the Bellator banner. And it appeared that Jackson was becoming one of the main faces of the organization.
However, rumors began to circulate late last year that Jackson and Bellator were not clicking. Suddenly, on November 17th, Jackson stated on his official twitter:
Just a thought.. But I've learned a big lesson in life and business: sometimes u should just stay with the devil u know @ufc
Suddenly the whole world began to speculate whether Jackson would be returning to the UFC. Soon after it was announced that he would be returning to the UFC and that his first fight would be against Fabio Maldonado, but Jackson was still under contract for Bellator MMA with three fights remaining on his contract. Several media outlets reached out to UFC President Dana White to inquire about Jackson's situation. White said, that all would be sorted out.
Now a month out from the event, Bellator MMA has filed an injunction against Jackson because he is still under contract with the organization and in effect violating what I would assume is a non-complete or exclusivity clause. Although I cannot speak to the details of the contract that Jackson signed it would be easy to assume that the contract would stipulate that Jackson had to fight for Bellator MMA exclusively.
If Bellator succeeds in getting the injunction it would be quite detrimental to both Jackson and the UFC which would have to find a replacement or scrap the entire fight depending on how quickly the court makes a decision. Bellator may look towards damages as well for lack of performance of the contract, which may become very costly to Jackson as the legal bills begin to pile up. There is also no information as to whether the Ultimate Fighting Championship or its parent company Zuffa LLC. will be assisting with this case.
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