If you're an upstart mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion like World Series of Fighting (WSOF), the last thing you want to do is get into a bidding war with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Unless you have a few billion dollars lying around like Viacom.

That's the philosophy CEO Ray Sefo is taking when looking at the contracts of free-agent fighters. What is the return on investment (ROI)? Sure, it would be great to add a marquee name like Quinton Jackson, but not if it means going dollar-for-dollar with his former employer, who still has a right to match.

Sefo explains to MMA Interviews:

"All these fighters looking for a home, obviously for us, it's gotta make sense. I don't think we're at a point yet where we can go and play with that kind of money. That's just being real. We'll take one step at a time. 'Rampage' is a great fighter and he would be a great asset, but at the same time it's kinda pointless for us to do any kind of negotiation like that [during his UFC matching period]. We'll just wait and let that play out."

"Rampage," despite his three-fight losing streak, would make a nice fit on a card that already boasts former UFC fighters like Andrei Arlovski, Anthony Johnson, Josh Burkman and Aaron Simpson.

But Jackson, who fulfilled the final fight on his ZUFFA contract last month in Chicago, has considered dipping his toe in the waters of the "sweet science," and may first try to see what kind of money he can scare up for his services on the open market.

I hear Bellator is interested.