Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve heard Quinton Jackson talk about all the reasons why it was OK to re-sign with the UFC. We’ve heard from Bellator, who said this contractual aggression will not stand.

If you’re still scratching your head, you’re probably not alone. Whatever is going on, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to end well. But there might be something else at play here, a bigger picture to see. It may explain why the industry leading UFC broke from a longstanding tradition not to sign fighters from other promotions.

Say you’re Bellator.

You’re riding the high of ratings coup over the UFC with a Tito Ortiz-headlined card. Great in the short term, sure, but not for the long haul. You’ve got a product in transition that largely rests on the shoulders of fighters who aren’t in and of themselves needle-movers. You’ve transitioned out of tournaments, and now you need stars for tentpole events.

The problem? Barrier to entry: The UFC has just about all the marquee talent locked up. It’s going to take you at least two years to snatch up a good stable of fighters who’s contracts are expiring, who are inclined to fight under a less autocratic promoter, or have the talent and marketability that can be leveraged into stardom.

You use what you’ve got. You book “Rampage” Jackson as a stopgap measure for ratings – say, a rematch with rival Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. You know Jackson is pretty close to done, but like Ortiz, he still brings the eyeballs.

There’s just one problem: Jackson is unhappy with his contract. And you know what that means: You’ve got to pay up.

Then, you find out that Jackson is talking to the UFC. The fact that he’s still under contract with you factors nothing into his overture. Then he signs, telling the world he self-terminated the contract because you weren’t living up to a deal signed under the previous chief at Bellator. Up until that point, all you’d heard from his camp was that he wanted more money.

You check with lawyers at Viacom, and they tell you if he signs with the UFC, the only fighting he’ll do is in a courtroom. That seems like a real waste of time and money for a stopgap, so you seek one of those conversations that isn’t billed by the hour, the kind where cocktail napkins come into play.

Say you’re the UFC.

You’ve had a miserable year for business. Injuries have ransacked your headlining attractions, depressing live gates and ratings and steepening the grade of an already downward trending line in pay-per-view buys. You’re more beholden than ever to FOX, who sees you as a relatively cheap live sports property, albeit not the cultural zeitgeist it expected when you jumped in bed. That makes you a prime candidate for renegotiation when the next big thing arrives.

Your credit rating takes a dip, and you’re one step away from being declared a speculative bet. To top it off, a multi-million dollar class action suit is looming, with potentially hundreds of fighters seeking damages for alleged anti-competitive business practices.

In short, you need a boost. Sure, your first quarter slate is strong: Jones vs. Cormier, Diaz vs. Silva, Weidman vs. Belfort and Rousey vs. her next contender. “CM Punk” should get it together for a late-year pop. But there’s just so much available real estate on your upcoming schedule. You need ratings and PPVs to beat back bad press and red ink. You need needle-movers.

Why not borrow one?

It’s not your thing to poach fighters already under contract. You might meddle, but without a legal right, there’s no deal. You remember signing Eddie Alvarez was no walk in the park. But you win either way by signing Jackson, whether or not his deal is still enforceable. He fights in the octagon? Eyeballs. He goes to court with Viacom? Bellator can’t use him.

There’s even a side benefit: He spends the next six months trashing Bellator in the press.

Anti-competitive? Maybe. It looks an awful lot like tortious interference, at the very least. But maybe it’s also proof that you aren’t the market’s 10,000-pound gorilla, smashing all your rivals. Bellator is the one restricting Jackson’s movement, your honor.

For more on the Bellator and UFC schedules, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.