In a surprising move, the UFC today indicated it will fight to keep Quinton Jackson in the co-headliner of this month’s UFC 186 – despite a court injunction against the ex-champ.

The promotion threatened “action” against an unnamed party to “protect its rights” and also took a shot at Bellator, which won the first round of a court battle against the fighter in New Jersey Superior Court.

“The UFC organization was surprised about the ruling because Mr. Jackson represented to UFC on multiple occasions that he was free to negotiate and contract with UFC,” the promotion said in a prepared statement. “The UFC organization is also surprised that Bellator sat on its alleged rights for months before taking action.

“UFC understands that Mr. Jackson is considering an emergency appeal, and UFC is also considering action to protect its rights and minimize damages regarding this matter. UFC 186 in Montreal, Canada will proceed as planned and UFC is currently evaluating its fight card options.”

Bellator filed suit in chancery court on March 4 to block Jackson from fighting Fabio Maldonado in a co-main event at the April 25 pay-per-view card, which takes place at Montreal’s Bell Centre. Karen L. Suter, a judge with the Superior Court of New Jersey, ruled in favor of the Viacom-owned promotion, which appeared to nix the booking announced this past December.

Bellator and Jackson both claim multiple breaches of a contract signed in June 2013 under the promotion’s previous chief executive, Bjorn Rebney. Unhappy with the UFC, for whom he’d fought from 2007 to early 2013, Jackson defected to Bellator with a lucrative deal that offered a new Tesla and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses and incentives.

After efforts to renegotiate the deal failed, Jackson and his longtime rep claimed Bellator breached its contract and signed with the UFC. According to court documents, Bellator CEO Scott Coker notified the industry-leader that Jackson was under contract prior to his signing.

Despite pending litigation between Jackson and Bellator, the UFC has promoted Jackson’s fight with Maldonado, filming a “Countdown to UFC 186” special featuring the matchup.

The April 25 pay-per-view has been ravaged by injury withdrawals. Bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw was recently forced out of a headlining title rematch opposite ex-champ Renan Barao, bumping a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Kyoji Horiguchi to the main event. The event’s originally scheduled co-headliner, a welterweight title eliminator between Rory MacDonald and Hector Lombard, was scratched when Lombard failed a drug test stemming from a January fight.

It was expected the injunction granted against Jackson would force the UFC to remove Jackson him from the event, though it appears that is not the case. Attempts to reach Jackson via his rep were unsuccessful.

In a prepared statement sent in the wake of its legal victory, Bellator said, “We are pleased by the judge’s ruling and look forward to having ‘Rampage’ fight for Bellator again soon.”

For more on UFC 186, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.