As if the MMA world needed anymore drama, one of it’s biggest stars may not be fighting anytime soon.
According to media reports, Quinton Rampage Jackson has been pulled from the upcoming UFC 186 card in Montreal at the Bell Centre. The Rampage vs Fabio Maldonado fight was originally scheduled to be the co-main event along with Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson puts his title on the line against Kyoji Horiguchi in the main event.
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Karen L. Suter granted Bellator MMA a temporary injunction on Tuesday, preventing Quinton Jackson from fighting in the UFC 186 co-main event.
After a brief–but successful–stint with Bellator, Jackson inked a deal with UFC in December after he alleged that Bellator MMA didn’t honor all the terms of his contract with them. Bellator claimed that Jackson was still under contract and sought legal action to protect their rights.
Something was off about Jackson’s claims from the start, a upstart promotion like Bellator wouldn’t just let their biggest star out of a contract with no fight. It was shocking to see the UFC just go along with things and hope it all worked out.
They don’t need Jackson in what is an already-stacked UFC Light Heavyweight division.
The UFC PR team has this to say, “UFC has been advised of the New Jersey state court’s ruling in the matter between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Bellator MMA.
The UFC organization was surprised about the ruling because Mr. Jackson represented to UFC on multiple occasions that he was free to negotiate and contract with UFC. The UFC organization is also surprised that Bellator sat on its alleged rights for months before taking action.
UFC understands that Mr. Jackson is considering an emergency appeal, and UFC is also considering action to protect its rights and minimize damages regarding this matter. UFC 186 in Montreal, Canada will proceed as planned and UFC is currently evaluating its fight card options”
The UFC and Jackson are not willing to take this decision laying down and are full prepared to fight as following Tuesday’s ruling, Jackson has stated that he is considering an emergency appeal while UFC is considering legal action against Bellator.
Up until now, the two rival MMA promotions have always been able to play somewhat nice with one another, but with new Bellator CEO Scott Coker taking things over, things are about to get spicy.