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Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is slated to make his Bellator Fighting Championships debut in November, during the main event for Bellator 108 in Atlantic City, NJ. on Nov. 15.
The 35-year-old MMA vet was originally scheduled to headline the promotion's first pay-per-view event on Saturday (Nov. 2) against fellow UFC legend Tito Ortiz, but that bout was canceled last week after Ortiz withdrew with a neck injury.
Bellator scrapped PPV plans altogether and pulled Jackson from the card, while moving a lightweight title fight between Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez to a Spike TV broadcast.
Instead of waiting for Ortiz to return, Jackson will instead fight Joey Beltran (14-9), who also comes over from the UFC following a split decision loss to Fabio Maldonado at UFC Fight Night 29.
"I want to thank Joey Beltran for stepping up for the fight so I can get my first Bellator victory out of the way," said Jackson, in a released statement. "He'll have the unfortunate honor of talking the ass-whooping I was going to give to Tito."
"It's been a long time coming to get Rampage into the Bellator cage, and on Nov. 15 we are going to see fireworks," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a released statement.
Beltran is 2-6 in his last eight fights. He had a no-contest last December, after he failed a post-fight drug test. He previously competed for Bellator, back in May 2009, when he defeated Sherman Pendergarst by TKO.
Since the news of Ortiz's neck injury, he's said he expects a full recovery and will "be back in the gym in six weeks."
The 35-year-old MMA vet was originally scheduled to headline the promotion's first pay-per-view event on Saturday (Nov. 2) against fellow UFC legend Tito Ortiz, but that bout was canceled last week after Ortiz withdrew with a neck injury.
Bellator scrapped PPV plans altogether and pulled Jackson from the card, while moving a lightweight title fight between Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez to a Spike TV broadcast.
Instead of waiting for Ortiz to return, Jackson will instead fight Joey Beltran (14-9), who also comes over from the UFC following a split decision loss to Fabio Maldonado at UFC Fight Night 29.
"I want to thank Joey Beltran for stepping up for the fight so I can get my first Bellator victory out of the way," said Jackson, in a released statement. "He'll have the unfortunate honor of talking the ass-whooping I was going to give to Tito."
"It's been a long time coming to get Rampage into the Bellator cage, and on Nov. 15 we are going to see fireworks," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a released statement.
Beltran is 2-6 in his last eight fights. He had a no-contest last December, after he failed a post-fight drug test. He previously competed for Bellator, back in May 2009, when he defeated Sherman Pendergarst by TKO.
Since the news of Ortiz's neck injury, he's said he expects a full recovery and will "be back in the gym in six weeks."