UK fight fans livid as Bellator 206 main event gets cut off

Bellator 206 was shown live in the United Kingdom. Well, almost all of it. Bellator MMA cards usually don’t air live in the United Kingdom, but Bellator 206 was a rare exception. The main card was broadcast on over-the-air network Channel …

Bellator 206 was shown live in the United Kingdom. Well, almost all of it.

Bellator MMA cards usually don’t air live in the United Kingdom, but Bellator 206 was a rare exception. The main card was broadcast on over-the-air network Channel 5, but unfortunately fans who stayed up through the middle of the night just had their “Heidi game” moment.

As was a point of issue for fans on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the pacing of Bellator 206’s main card wasn’t exactly warp speed. In fact, despite five finishes out of six fights, the main event between Gegard Mousasi and Rory MacDonald ended well past 1 AM ET. Channel 5 viewers never saw Mousasi’s TKO finish of MacDonald, because Bellator ran over the three-hour timeslot and viewers were soon “treated” to an episode of the children’s television program, Peppa Pig.

It’s definitely a raw deal to stay up until 6 AM local time only to see… well… something other than Bellator on the screen. This is a major fail by someone. In case you’re wondering, Channel 5 is owned by Viacom, the same company that owns Bellator MMA. Reaction to the unexpected switcheroo can be viewed below.