First came Muhammed (King Mo) Lawal, then Randy Couture and now Quinton (Rampage) Jackson. At the rate that Bellator MMA is going it probably won’t be long before it announces the signing of another star from a different promotion.
Bellator heralded the signing on Wednesday of Rampage, easily one of the most colourful — and at times outrageous — characters in mixed martial arts, notable in particular for his signature eight-pound neck chain.
While Rampage had clearly ceased to become effective in the UFC, having lost his last three bouts, including a title fight against light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones in the first of the trio of defeats, he can find new life in a promotion that wants to make multiple uses of his talents.
While he may be past his prime — at least the UFC felt that way — he comes to Bellator as an individual who can be marketed as an MMA competitor and a wrestler who can add a new personality to Total Nonstop Action, otherwise known as TNA. Both Bellator and TNA are broadcast on Spike TV, the network which once was the home for the UFC.
TNA is a promotion for onetime stars of the WWE, notably Hulk Hogan, the onetime pre-eminent wrestler in the world. He plays a prominent role in TNA, including an interesting storyline that involves his pulchritudinous daughter Brooke, who is married to another wrestler, Bully Ray, although not in reality. In a story line to create some heat, Bully Ray turned on his father-in-law to join a rogue group of outlaw wrestlers called Aces & Eights. In the scripted world of sports/entertainment, this all makes sense.
And this is the world that Rampage wanted to be a part of a long time ago, back when he was a decent amateur wrestler and before he set his sights on a pro career in MMA. Along the way, Rampage became one of the biggest stars in the business, first with the Pride Fighting Championships and later in the UFC, in which he became a light-heavyweight champion.
In 12 fights in the Octagon, he had a record of 7-5. Three times he participated in what was deemed to be the Fight of the Night, one of them was later voted Fight of The Year. Twice he recorded the Knockout of the Night.
He had a decent career before the sum of his fights took a toll on his body.
He comes to Bellator as a fading star and he may move up from 205 pounds to the heavyweight division. Maybe it will help him to become a champion again. Then again, Bellator doesn’t immediately take a fighter and put him into a title fight, preferring a tournament style.
Rampage’s signing is similar to what Bellator did in May 2012 when it made a great splash after it signed Lawal. He was a onetime light-heavyweight champion in the now-defunct Strikeforce promotion, which the UFC bought and later folded. King Mo found himself ticketed out of Strikeforce before its demise because of a tweet that the UFC considered offensive. He was already sidelined with a knee injury.
Bellator saw Lawal as the most marketable individual who could also wrestle in TNA because he had a true passion and interest in pro wrestling. The courtship and ultimate crowning of King Mo by Bellator became one of the most important signings in the history of the Bellator, which has only been in existence for five years.
Lawal’s debut in Bellator was delayed until he had fully recovered from his damaged knee. Bellator showed footage of King Mo going through rigorous rehab and literally learning the ropes from some of the TNA talent.
Unfortunately the storyline of his career in Bellator did not go according to the kind of script that would have been played out in TNA. King Mo lost in only his second fight in Bellator, knocked out by a spinning backfist in the first round. He was fighting in the semi-final of the promotion’s most recent light-heavyweight tournament. Just like that, the King Mo hype came to a sudden stop.
King Mo is scheduled to fight again in Bellator’s light-heavyweight summer series tournament slated for June 19. The tournament will include two semi-finals, so he will have a quicker route to the final this time if he doesn’t suffer the same fate as his last fight.
Bellator should scrap its tournament and simply put the likes of King Mo and Rampage into a title fight against the existing champion rather than having to go through a tournament. But it would go against the company’s philosophy of forcing fighters to earn their way to a title fight rather than simply having it handed to them.
In the new world of MMA — at least in the UFC — it is not always about matching the champion against the No. 1 contender. It is becoming more about pitting the champion against a hot commodity who makes the most noise about wanting a title shot.
Maybe Rampage and King Mo will square off at some point in Bellator with Couture providing broadcast analysis in his new role with the company. Maybe Rampage and King Mo will be part of a TNA storyline that will allow the two of them to be built up as rivals.
The possibilities are endless.