'Rampage' Jackson agrees to settlement, new contract with Bellator

Quinton Jackson is heading back to Bellator.

"Rampage" and Bellator came to terms on a new two-fight contract this week, MMAFighting.com has learned. The signed contract came after the two sides reached an amicable settlement on their year-long lawsuit. Specific terms of the new deal or settlement were not disclosed. No word just yet on when Jackson will fight again, however, it will come in 2016.

Bellator confirmed the news via press release.

Jackson's last fight was against Fabio Maldonado at UFC 186 in April. While he won the fight via unanimous decision, the fight almost never materialized. Bellator won a preliminary injunction against Jackson in the Burlington County Superior Court of New Jersey after Jackson signed a new contract with the UFC in Dec. 2014, which forced the UFC to replace Jackson on the card with Steve Bossé two weeks before the fight.

However, just days before the event, a judge in the Superior Court of New Jersey's Appellate Division overturned Bellator's injuction against Jackson, allowing him to compete for the UFC. Jackson has been sidelined ever since the win over Maldonado, awaiting a resolution to the lawsuit. At the heart of the matter? Jackson claimed Bellator breached his contract when they didn't provide him with the appropriate pay-per-view data from his May 2013 fight against Muhammed Lawal in a timely manner. He also stated the organization didn't promote his fights as promised and didn't deliver on entertainment opportunities laid out in their original contract. Bellator maintained Jackson breached his contract when he signed a new one with the UFC before completing his deal with them.

In an October episode of The MMA Hour, Jackson hinted at retirement because he didn't seem confident the issue with Bellator would be resolved one way or the other, but with his next appeal hearing approaching in the coming weeks, the two sides were finally able to come to terms.

The 37-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champion has won his last four fights in a row. He signed with Bellator in 2013 and proceeded to win three straight against Joey Beltran. Christian M'Pumbu and Lawal.

The UFC has been made aware of Jackson's new deal and settlement with Bellator and have agreed to not stand in his way.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is finally free to once again resume his hall-of-fame career.