N.J. Court Grants Bellator Injunction to Prevent ‘Rampage’ from Fighting at UFC 186

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Quinton Jackson will not be fighting at UFC 186 after the Burlington County Superior Court of New Jersey granted Bellator an injunction to prevent the fighter from competing on the April 25 card.

MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani first reported the ruling via Twitter on Tuesday. Karen L. Suter, a judge with the chancery division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, initially postponed the hearing last Thursday.

In December, Jackson signed with the UFC after claiming that he terminated his Bellator contract because the promotion did not fulfill all the stipulations it promised. Bellator responded by filing a lawsuit to prevent “Rampage” from competing for the Las Vegas-based promotion. According to a statement released by Bellator in March, Jackson had only fulfilled three fights of his exclusive six-fight contract with the organization.

Bellator issued the following statement shortly after the injunction was granted: “We are pleased by the judge’s ruling and look forward to having Rampage fighting for Bellator again soon.”

Meanwhile, the UFC later issued its own statement expressing surprise with the court's decision, not only because of Jackson's presentation of the situation, but because of the length of time it took Bellator to act.

"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 statement read. "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," the statement continued. "UFC 186 in Montreal, Canada, will proceed as planned and UFC is currently evaluating its fight card options."

Jackson was scheduled to face Fabio Maldonado in the UFC 186 co-main event at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The card, which recently lost a bantamweight title tilt between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao, is headlined by a flyweight championship bout pitting Demetrious Johnson against Kyoji Horiguchi.