Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson Vs. Fabio Maldonado Back On For UFC 186

It appears that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be fighting at UFC 186 after all, as a New Jersey judge overturned Bellator’s injunction against the UFC and “Rampage.” UFC President Dana White made the announcement that “Rampage” will be fighting at UFC 186 earlier today, after the injunction was overturned.

“We are happy with the decision from the New Jersey Court allowing ‘Rampage’ to fight in Montreal this Saturday night. I am looking forward to seeing ‘Rampage’ back in the Octagon.”

According to UFC, the fight — which was originally scheduled to take place at 205 pounds — will be taking place at a catchweight of 215 pounds.

Jackson, who has a professional MMA record of 35-11, hasn’t fought for the UFC since January of 2013, where he took Glover Teixeira via unanimous decision at UFC on Fox 6. Following his fight with Teixeira, “Rampage” left the UFC, and signed with rival promotion Bellator, and won his first three fights with the promotion. “Rampage” then left Bellator, and re-signed with the UFC in December after claiming that Bellator had breached his contract by not properly promoting his fights and failing to provide copies of their pay-per-view buy rates.

Earlier this month, Bellator won its preliminary injunction against “Rampage” in New Jersey, which forced the UFC to remove Jackson from the UFC 186 card and replace him with Steve Bosse. Jackson’s legal team subsequently appealed the ruling, which was overturned today, allowing “Rampage” to return to the UFC.

According to multiple sources, “Rampage” continued his training camp, even though he was pulled from the UFC 186 card, because he believed that he would end up fighting. Bosse — Jackson’s replacement — is expected to receive his show money, even though he’s no longer fighting on the show.

“Rampage” originally left the UFC due to unhappiness with his current pay. When he left the UFC, Jackson hadn’t won a fight in the UFC since 2011, and was on a three fight losing streak. Jackson previously had issues with the UFC, but the two sides were always able to come together.

Before Jackson decided to leave Bellator, he said that he should have stayed with the UFC, saying that “you should always stick with the devil you know.” It appears that Jackson is happy with his current situation, but most people believe that it’s only a matter of time before “Rampage” loses interest, and once again has issues with MMA’s biggest organization.

[Image via Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC]