Bellator president Scott Coker says he won’t re-sign Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson unless he is serious about fighting at light-heavyweight.
‘Rampage’ fought out his Bellator contract with a humiliating loss to legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 237 in December. The former UFC light-heavyweight champion looked out of shape for the fight and tipped the scale at a career-high 265lbs. After the fight ‘Rampage’ received a lot of stick before owning up to his mistakes and vowing to return to 205lbs.
Speaking to MMA Junkie, Coker revealed he is in talks with team ‘Rampage’ but appeared unsure about re-signing the fight legend, he said.
“‘Rampage,’ I think he’s got to figure out what weight class he wants to fight at. That’s really what it comes down to. We fulfilled our obligation with him and we’re still talking to his manager. We have a good relationship with him and Tiki (Ghosn), and it’s just going to be like: Does he really want to do this? Does he really want to go out there and throw down? Because there’s times in a fighters career where it’s like, ‘That’s it.’ They’ve done everything they can in the sport.
“‘Rampage’ is a legend. He’s already done it all. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anybody, including myself. I think that’s something we’ll have a conversation with him but Tiki is saying he wants to go back down to 205. If he’s really serious about taking another stab at it. We’ll definitely have that conversation.”
“Fedor was in great shape and he came in and did what he had to do,” Coker said. “He looked amazing, honestly. He threw combinations. He threw legs kicks like he hasn’t in a while, he surprised me. ‘Rampage, he did the best he could.’ He got hit and I think he just felt the power and he said, ‘There’s going to be another day for me and it’s not going to be tonight.’ Fedor is who he is. Even though Fedor is in the fourth quarter of his career and it’s the two-minute warning, the guy is still dangerous. Any day that he punches you it’s lights out.”
Do you think Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson can get back down to 205lbs?