Perhaps there was a time when Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was worth the hassle.
Maybe back in 2007—when he entered the UFC with three straight victories and won the light heavyweight championship from Chuck Liddell—it was possible to block out all his background noise.Considering his advanced age and considerable baggage (Warning: link contains NSFW language), picking a fight over the 2015 version of Rampage Jackson just feels like a lot of trouble the embattled UFC doesn’t need at the moment.
It certainly struck a very weird note on Saturday when the organization breathlessly announced Jackson’s return. It was less than two years ago, after all, that the notoriously disgruntled fighter left the UFC amid scorched earth (more NSFW language) and hard feelings, and, as of right now, we don’t even know if he’s legally allowed to come back.
Rampage contends he’s terminated his relationship with Bellator MMA after the smaller company failed to live up to the terms of their contractual agreement. But Bellator CEO Scott Coker says not so fast, and a court battle now appears in the offinJust a week ago, three current and former UFC fighters filed a class-action lawsuit charging the world’s largest MMA promotion with, among other things, “an illegal scheme to eliminate competition from would-be rival MMA Promoters.” For the UFC to grab Jackson and publicly trumpet his homecoming all while Bellator claims to still have him under contract was sort of disquieting. Nonetheless, everybody managed to keep a straight face over the weekend. The UFC gave Jackson a welcome-back video package and an interview spot on Fox Sports 1 while mostly ignoring the fact it’ll probably take legal action to actually get him back in the Octagon.
"You have no idea how excited I am to come back," Jackson said on TV that night. "This is where I belong."
Maybe, though a judge might still have the last word on that.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2307109-with-contract-fight-brewing-rampage-jackson-not-worth-the-trouble-for-ufc
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