I see people are saying that Bellator letting Rampage Jackson get away (and him possibly coming back to the UFC) is a mistake.
I disagree.
It became obvious that Jackson has no interest in fighting the current Light Heavyweight champion (his friend/team-mate Emmanuel Newton) so there's really no reason for Rampage to stay with Bellator. Jackson had earned a title shot when he won the LHW mini-tournament... but he chose not to take that fight.
Like I had said about Rory MacDonald going on record saying he would never fight his team-mate/mentor GSP and Daniel Cormier saying he would never fight his team-mate/friend Cain Velasquez... there's no sense in busting your ass training and fighting only to be "#2" - so something had to give.
For Cormier that meant him dropping from heavyweight down to Light Heavyweight, MacDonald got lucky when GSP retired early... for Rampage the only option for him seems to be leaving Bellator.
So I say people shouldn't be giving Bellator or Rampage a hard time for what is probably the best option of a bad situation.
Jackson isn't getting any younger, and he definitely isn't in the best shape of his career or his life... and until/unless he changes his mind on not wanting to fight a friend/team-mate leaving Bellator is the only choice left for him if he wants to be able to continue fighting.
So the smartest thing for Bellator to do is not fight to keep someone who isn't interesting in fighting for them anymore... it is letting him go wherever he can & focusing on the fighters who do want to fight for Bellator in the LHW division. No sense wasting energy on something that isn't going to work out in the long run when you can apply that effort towards things that will benefit your promotion.
If Rampage does return to the UFC (as reports are saying) I wish both him & Bellator the best.
