(Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in 2016, after he fights twice in the UFC, complains about bad matchmaking and other (perhaps non-existent) slights, leaves, and re-signs with Bellator. / Photo via Getty)
The story of the weekend isn’t Lyoto Machida’s 61-second destruction of C.B. Dollaway, it’s the UFC’s signing of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
The UFC announced Rampage’s return to the company during the UFC Fight Night 58 broadcast Saturday night, though rumors had circulated days before the official announcement.
The legal implications of the signing are more interesting than any of the in-cage ones since Scott Coker tweeted Rampage was still under contract to Bellator and that the promotion would protect its rights in court.
However, Rampage posted a statement to his website Sunday claiming he legally voided his contract with Bellator:
After five months of grueling negotiations and gray-area contract talks with Bellator MMA and parent-company Viacom, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson officially terminates his contract with the up-and-coming promotion citing multiple breaches since the removal of President and Founder Bjorn Rebney. Jackson exercises a clause in the agreement that allows for a 45-day window to satisfy any contract dispute. Bellator MMA, failing to fulfill the requests of Jackson, was put on notice, failed to respond and eventually notified that negotiations were officially terminated.
Jackson’s U.K.-based fight manager and Wolfslair Academy founder Anthony McGann confirms, late Saturday night, that “Rampage has indeed signed with the UFC.” Details of the deal have not been made public. Jackson was available for comment late Saturday night from his Laguna Hills, CA training center Rampage Family Fitness and provided the following: “I went to the UFC and we put a deal together that worked out for both of us. I’m excited to be here. The UFC had nothing to do with me leaving Bellator. I was done with Bellator when I made the final call and they still didn’t do what they had to do contractually. I wish those guys the best but I’m where I belong.
Rampage posted a link to the statement in a tweet reading “Official statement on my UFC signing and what’s happening at RampageJackson.com (so Scott Coker can shut up).”
The ensuing legal battle is going to be more interesting than anything Rampage does in the Octagon, so stay tuned.