Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney says he won't force 'Rampage'-Newton title fight

Heading into Bellator 120, it was known that a win by Quinton Jackson might put the promotion into a little bit of a light heavyweight bind.

Now that that bind is a reality, the promotion’s CEO said he’s not going to force the issue created by the “Rampage” win over Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in Saturday’s main event.

Jackson (35-11 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) took a unanimous decision from Lawal (12-4 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) at Bellator’s first pay-per-view event, which took place at Landers Center in Southaven, Miss. The win came in the Season 10 light heavyweight tournament final, meaning Jackson now gets a title shot against champion Emanuel Newton.

But there’s just one problem. Jackson and Newton share the same coach, Antonio McKee.

“That guy is the secret to my success and my turnaround, besides the coaches I’ve already got at the Wolfslair (in England),” Jackson said after Bellator 120. “Emanuel and I share Antonio McKee and we train together sometimes. I have the same training partners that Newton trains with, and we train together. So I don’t know how that’s going to work. The gym is family. You’re closer than brothers sometimes, and you’ve got to hit him in the face.”

On Monday’s edition of MMAjunkie Radio, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said he’s not going to paint Jackson into a corner and force him to fight a teammate.

“The reason ‘Rampage’ and I have had such a good relationship is we’ve approached things as guys working together, not me mandating what’s going to happen,” Rebney said. “That’s the same way we’re approaching this. You’ve got a guy with a split allegiance (in McKee), but ‘Rampage’ has earned a world title shot. … I’m going to talk to him about it, but I’m not going to disrespect a guy who’s been nothing but standup with us. He’s rocked and rolled as a promoter for us, so I’m not going to say we’re making this fight and plant this flag in the sand.”

Regardless of what happens, Rebney believes he’s got the resurgence of a superstar on his hands in Jackson, who moved to 3-0 with the promotion since leaving the UFC in 2013 as a free agent.

After Jackson had surgery to fix ailing knees, he put together back-to-back first-round knockouts for Bellator, followed by Saturday’s decision win over Lawal.

“‘Rampage’ is back. The knees are back,” Rebney said. “He didn’t just get off the ground (after being taken down). He got off the ground with ‘King Mo’ Lawal on top of him. Questions answered.”

But ultimately, it sounds like Rebney will leave it up to Jackson to see how he wants to play things going forward.

“He’s a world-class athlete, so you can pick and choose and move around fights and do pseudo-superfights, or you can look to recapture a world title on a stage where there’s a lot of good fighters,” he said. “It’s an epic fight, and there’s some other great fights for us at 205, as well.”

For complete coverage of Bellator 120, stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.