I wrote earlier this week that Friday night’s dueling UFC and Bellator cards were a throwback to the old Monday Night Wars in professional wrestling.
Some of you were angry with that assessment, because professional wrestling and mixed martial arts are two different things, and any mixture of the two is unthinkable.
But then Bellator 123 happened, and Stephan Bonnar and Tito Ortiz appeared in the cage with a masked man who ended up being Justin McCully. At that point, I’m positive many of you either loudly cheered or threw up on your coffee table.
It elicted strong reactions, either way. For some, it was the worst thing that ever happened. Me? I feel like it was actually pretty awesome but in the most terrible of ways. It was different. It wasn’t good. And it sets up a fight between Bonnar and Ortiz that nobody wants to see.
But people are talking about Bellator, and I guess that’s a win for Scott Coker and his new regime. It would’ve been better to have someone other than McCully under the mask, but you take what you can get.
And the folks who tuned in to see the weird pro wrestling theatrics (that also featured TNA heavyweight champion Bobby Lashley) were able to see Patricio “Pitbull” Freire capture the Bellator featherweight title with a win over former champion Pat Curran.
All was not lost on this night.
Over on Fox Sports 1 (and just across the river in Connecticut), the UFC presented a thrilling free fight card that more than lived up to its pre-fight billing.
Joe Lauzon and Michael Chiesa delivered in the way everyone figured they would. The only downside to that fight is the way it ended and perhaps the fact it ended early at all; with the way Lauzon and Chiesa were ramping things up, one wouldn’t blame you for wanting to see 10 more rounds.
An unfortunate cut above Chiesa’s eye prevented it from happening on this night. But Chiesa wants a rematch, and I’d like a rematch, too.
Four heavyweights stepped in the cage next. It was not at the same time, though that would’ve been awesome (and I wouldn’t mind seeing the four heavyweights featured Friday night in a little miniature tournament with their Bellator counterparts, if I’m being honest).
When the smoke cleared, Derrick Lewis was protesting a perfectly reasonable stoppage, and Alistair Overeem found himself perhaps with a one-way ticket out of the UFC.
It might be a sad ending for Overeem, who has an expensive contract and might not be worth the cost. He revamped his training camp, giving over his career to esteemed trainers Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn. But the result was the same; Overeem’s chin just isn’t what it once was.
He might get one more shot in the UFC. He might not. But the truth is that his chin might not be up to handling true heavyweight power.
And then the main event from Foxwoods came around, and Ronaldo Souza showed that he’s come a very long way since he lost to Gegard Mousasi all those years ago. Mousasi won the battle of the walkout music with his terrifying choice, but Souza won the fight handily. No longer just a jiu-jitsu player, Souza is a complete fighter with blistering and terrifying power.
Oh, and he’s still pretty good with submissions, as he showed by finishing Mousasi with a nasty guillotine in the third round.
The thought of Chris Weidman beating the TRT-less Vitor Belfort and then facing Souza gives me chills. In this, I suspect I am not alone.
All in all, it was another successful night of fights. People complain about too many fights; I am guilty of this.
But on nights like Friday, we have nothing to complain about.
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