The UFC has sent out an official statement regarding the removal of Quinton Jackson from the UFC 186 co-main event, which was caused by a successful injunction filed by Bellator to prevent him from competing on the card.
Quinton Jackson won't be fighting Fabio Maldonado at UFC 186 like originally planned. A judge granted Bellator MMA an injunction to stop Rampage from returning to the Octagon as they attempt to wrangle him back to their promotion to finish up the remaining 3 fights on his contract. In response, the UFC has released an official statement on its website regarding the ruling, as well as their plans moving forward with 186:
"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 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. UFC 186 in Montreal, Canada will proceed as planned and UFC is currently evaluating its fight card options."
The bold emphasis is mine. On December 20th, the night the UFC announced Rampage's signing during a live Fight Night card, Bellator president Scott Coker went to Twitter to specifically state that the promotion was planning to protect its contractual rights:
Let us be clear that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is under an exclusive contract with #BellatorMMA. We will protect our contractual rights
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) December 21, 2014 Bellator formally announced their injunction filing on March 2nd but they'd made their intentions clear since literally the moment Jackson's return to the UFC was made official.
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