When you actually watch the video it just sees more like Dana being Dana for the sake of being Dana.
I think the reality is more likely that they didn't want to pay Rumble as much as he wanted not knowing what type of shape/skill he was going to come back at. And letting him go to Bellator at more money is win/win because if he sucks there, no big loss. And if he's good, then they can bring him back as a title challenger. Saying "use your imagination" also makes Dana look less cheap and helps the "we're not a monopoly" argument.