According to a Jan. 16 report from MMA Mania, Bellator MMA is interested in signing UFC star Quinton Jackson.
Jackson, who fights Glover Teixeira on Jan. 26, recent stated that his upcoming UFC fight will be his last appearance with the promotion.
"I used to watch Rampage fight in PRIDE," Bellator MMA CEO Bjorn Rebney said of Jackson. "He's an awesome fighter and an incredible personality and I've been a fan for a lot of years. How he could conceptually fit within the format and structure we have, that would be something where I'd have to get smarter people than I to sit down and discuss. He's, and I don't think he would deny, in the latter stage of his career. He's suffered a lot of injuries but he's still a rock star at a very high level. That would be one of those square peg/round hole situations, but sometimes you can make those work, I dunno. Maybe. It would depend on a lot of stuff, like the legality of where he is with the UFC. We'll see."
Jackson recently said that he may be interested in becoming a pro boxer following his final UFC fight.
"You know what? Honestly I put my time in. I did my thing," Jackson said of his MMA career. "I feel like I think my next challenge is if I go somewhere, I want to be very exciting. Maybe I want to try some boxing and see if I do some boxing or kickboxing … I think my strategy, I’ve done jiu-jitsu tournaments, wrestling tournaments, kickboxing fights, but I’ve never done boxing. I think that’s my biggest challenge, to see if I can be a pro boxer. I hear Kimbo Slice is doing pretty good."
Rebney also stated that Bellator MMA isn't interested in signing Strikeforce veteran Josh Barnett.
"It hasn't been a topic of conversation in our meetings with our staff," Rebney said. "Josh is a great character and he's had some great fights, but he's not really on our radar."
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