UFC Decides to Keep Jackson out of Action until Litigation Finishes with Bellator

The UFC has decided to shelf Quinton "Rampage" Jackson until his court battle with Bellator MMA is finished.  Given the debacle that occurred in April where a NJ Superior Court enjoined Jackson from competing. Then, the same judged proceeded to remove the injunction at the commencement of fight week.  During this period of three weeks or so, the UFC scambled to save to the co-main event and even considered cancelling the bout altogether (something that plagued its PPV numbers and led to a downgrade of its credit rating by Moody's and S&P last year).  So this seems like a reasonable course of action given that there is a chance that Jackson would be prohibited from competing inside the cage.

For those you who are not in the loop, Jackson left the UFC in 2013 and signed for the rival Bellator MMA for reportedly six fights.  In 2014 he competed twice under the Bellator banner and then jumped ship with four fights still left on his contract.

Essentially Bellator is looking for estoppel or the promises that were guaranteed when Jackson signed for the organization.  The promise of course was his services inside the cage and the potential revenue that could possibly have been accrued due to Jackson's name in the sport of MMA.

I find it very unlikely that the courts will force Jackson to return to Bellator until the end of his contract against his will.  The most likely scenario is that a judge will award damages to make Bellator who for the lost revenue created by Jackson's premature departure from his contract.  Unless Jackson can find some egregious circumstance created by Bellator to justify his departure it is very likely that the courts will side with Bellator.

As always I will try to keep my audience abreast of any developments in this case as they unravel in the future.  Feel free to leave a comment down below and subscribe to the Blog.  And if you'd like to chat you can find me on Google + and twitter @mmalegal2016.