Quinton “Rampage” Jackson now has a new official home for his mixed martial arts career, since signing with Bellator MMA. The acrimonious sister organization to the much more successful UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) was eager to wrest the former light heavyweight leader from him as soon as he was out of his UFC contract.
According to email leaks to BR MMA, Spike TV, “Rampage” Jackson has signed an exclusive contract with the company and possibly Bellator to fight later this year under their logo and advertising brands; in fact, Rampage has already defeated two opponents as of the time of this writing. Both Joey Beltran and M’Pumbu have fallen prey to those vaunted hands, with King Mo Lawal possibly the next on the list of victims or perhaps the victor. Spike TV announced that it also signed the fighter to a contract to participate in both MMA and professional wrestling. Remember that Bellator is the second largest promoter of MMA fights in the US, so it’s only a small step below the UFC, despite the difference between the organizations in overall revenue.
Some of the terms of the deal include the image rights to their fights, which will be owned by Spike TV and the TNA Wrestling Organization, as well as a promise from Bellator that Rampage will be able to take advantage of big-screen opportunities, should they arise. Remember his turn as Mr. T in the A-Team movie remake, and the additional success and renown Jackson has been able to derive from it.
With this new speculation about where this legendary post-UFC fighter would open the door for him to go, it’s over. Jackson, 34, left the UFC earlier this year amid complaints about his regular treatment by the Las Vegas-based promotion. Rampage joined the UFC in 2007 and won the organization’s light heavyweight title by knocking out Chuck Liddell. He also defeated Dan Henderson to unify the UFC and Pride Fighting Championship titles. But after the losses to Jon Jones, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira, the company decided to dispense with his services.
With a professional record of 32-11 (7-5 in the UFC) Jackson begins this new journey trying to have more luck with Bellator than he had with the UFC where he was falling from the top to less important positions and falling in the rankings.
Now, he has the opportunity to start over but always with the threat that if something goes wrong, there may not be a third chance for him. “Rampage” must respect this time for all the clauses of the new contract; specifically, the clause that has always cost him the most: that of the coach. Everyone knows that this man is very anarchistic and does not like to comply with the mandatory training required by the contract, which impacts not only his physical form but also the image of the sponsor.
Ultimately, true fans of the Black Samurai, as Rampage’s loyal Japanese PRIDE fans used to call Rampage, will likely stick with the charismatic fighter even in his new spot, expecting to see him knock people out ferociously like he did before. in his career.