'Rampage' Jackson willing to fight Tito Ortiz despite friendship

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson bested Satoshi Ishii in his Bellator return Friday night via split decision, and talk has already turned to whom he could face next.

The 38-year-old said in his post-fight press conference that his occasional rival, Muhammed Lawal, put forward the idea of Jackson facing off with his longtime friend Tito Ortiz. It's a fight the former UFC light heavyweight champion wouldn't be opposed to.

"'King Mo' wants me to fight my boy Tito," Jackson said, according to Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com. "He must really not like Tito. King Mo told me that if I fight Tito, then he'll fight Ishii, because I think that'll be a good fight, King Mo versus Ishii. Because they both fight the same. Just sayin'."

Jackson and Ortiz almost faced off in their Bellator debuts in 2013, but Ortiz couldn't compete due to injury.

"Rampage" said he's seeking someone to knock out, and if it has to be his friend, so be it.

"Tito, we were supposed to fight," Jackson said. "I really didn't want to fight him then, but it's my job to fight. If Tito wants to fight, I think we'll come in and put on a good show. It'll suck to knock my friend out, but I gotta get a knockout. I gotta get a knockout. I've gotta knock somebody out. I've gotta knock somebody out.

"If Tito gets in the cage with me, you know I'm gonna try to knock him out. It would suck to beat up one of my friends, but if Tito wants to do it, then we can do it. If not, I ain't gonna cry."