Last night, Bellator 119 was held at Casino Rama in Orillia, a sleepy town about two hours north of Toronto. By some standards, the show was a success—it featured performances by a talented, well-matched card punctuated with Daniel Weichel (33-8) finishing Desmond Green (11-2) via rear naked choke in the second round of the featherweight tournament finale. It was the type of mid-level show that has proved financially sustainable in the gritty dog-eat-dog world of MMA promotions. Regardless of sweeping reports from Sherdog.com and MMAFighting.com that Eddie Alvarez is pulling out of the inaugural Bellator pay-per-view show next week (reports that Bjorn Rebney denied at the post-fight presser), the promotion’soverall prospects for expansion are limited.
On the undercard of Bellator 119, Brazilian featherweight Marlon Sandro faced London, Ontario native Chris Horodecki. Sandro controlled the pace, committing to his strikes and dominating Horodecki to earn the judge’s decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27). At the post-fight presser, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney explained reasons why the bout was intentionally hidden among the untelevised preliminary bouts:
“Ran into some difficult contract situations that came to light in the last 24-48 hours before the fight…we all felt it was a better decision to keep the [Sandro-Horodecki] fight off TV and not exacerbate a bad situation,” said Rebney. “We got a lot of claims coming in from other camps that were claiming an interest in Chris Horodecki. We didn’t want to put him in a horrible spot of receiving a big lawsuit.”
Chris Horodecki has fought in three separate promotions since his last three-fight Bellator stint. If he is still under contract to another promotion, Horodecki needs to question his management for placing him in the precarious lose-lose position of limited exposure and shortchanging Bellator’s TV product.
Last night, Bellator 119 was held at Casino Rama in Orillia, a sleepy town about two hours north of Toronto. By some standards, the show was a success—it featured performances by a talented, well-matched card punctuated with Daniel Weichel (33-8) finishing Desmond Green (11-2) via rear naked choke in the second round of the featherweight tournament finale. It was the type of mid-level show that has proved financially sustainable in the gritty dog-eat-dog world of MMA promotions. Regardless of sweeping reports from Sherdog.com and MMAFighting.com that Eddie Alvarez is pulling out of the inaugural Bellator pay-per-view show next week (reports that Bjorn Rebney denied at the post-fight presser), the promotion’s overall prospects for expansion are limited.
On the undercard of Bellator 119, Brazilian featherweight Marlon Sandro faced London, Ontario native Chris Horodecki. Sandro controlled the pace, committing to his strikes and dominating Horodecki to earn the judge’s decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27). At the post-fight presser, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney explained reasons why the bout was intentionally hidden among the untelevised preliminary bouts:
“Ran into some difficult contract situations that came to light in the last 24-48 hours before the fight…we all felt it was a better decision to keep the [Sandro-Horodecki] fight off TV and not exacerbate a bad situation,” said Rebney. “We got a lot of claims coming in from other camps that were claiming an interest in Chris Horodecki. We didn’t want to put him in a horrible spot of receiving a big lawsuit.”
Chris Horodecki has fought in three separate promotions since his last three-fight Bellator stint. If he is still under contract to another promotion, Horodecki needs to question his management for placing him in the precarious lose-lose position of limited exposure and shortchanging Bellator’s TV product.
Heavyweights Raphael Butler and Nick Rossborough started with a bang and finished with both men out of gas. Butler intentionally fouled Rossborough with a head butt in the first round when Rossborough had Butler’s back. The ref took a point and restarted them on the feet; Butler took control from there onwards, clearly winning the final two rounds. After the fight, Rossborough claimed to have no memory of what transpired after the head butt; the judges scored the fight 28-27, 28-28 and 28-28 making it a majority draw.
In the other televised bouts, Marius Zaromskis low-kicked Canadian Vaughn Anderson’s leg into hamburger en route to a decision win; Canadian John Alessio used his veteran experience to outwrestle Eric Wisely and grind out a decision win.
For all the skill on display, Bellator has a ceiling in terms of how successful the promotion can become as its homegrown talent is handicapped in terms of perception and marketability. For instance, the May 17 pay per view relies heavily on UFC veterans Quinton Jackson and Tito Ortiz. If Eddie Alvarez fulfills the final fight on his Bellator contract when he recovers from his concussion and is signed to the UFC, he may prove himself equally skilled or superior to UFC lightweights; Bellator would win a moral victory but that wouldn’t necessarily translate into higher viewership for Bellator lightweights like Michael Chandler.
To become a player in the pay per view market, Bellator needs to sign UFC stars at the zenith of their popularity like Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey or Nick Diaz. Assuming Viacom would pony up the scratch, standard contractual language like the 12-month matching clause poses a tremendous problem. When Bellator attempted to acquire Gilbert Melendez, all the UFC had to do was outbid Bellator once and Melendez became UFC property once again.
“God bless Gilbert Melendez, we made him a very rich man,” claimed Rebney. “We made him an offer. The matching clause is in place, he is now the highest paid lightweight the UFC has—[and] one of the highest paid fighters the UFC has fighting in any division.”
Strategically, the UFC will continue to sign its marquee fighters to long-term contracts and match any offers made to their most marketable fighters in order to retain the dominant market position.
Still, Rebney is optimistic about Bellator’s offerings for its first pay per view show, “I think people need to look at it in the context of a fighting event, and not think about branding.”
In fact, the strength of the UFC brand is part of why the promotion remains content to offer an increasingly watered-down product with an escalating frequency of shows. However, some fans are getting wise to the game and are becoming increasingly critical; the UFC has no reason to change unless said fans vote with their pocketbooks.
If Bellator gets its first PPV card off the ground despite Alvarez’s injury and somehow manages to land near the break-even point, future shows will have to be cobbled together using a mix of former UFC fighters and homegrown talent. Throughout this, Bellator will need to stop the UFC from poaching their brightest stars, as was the strategy when Eddie Alvarez attempted to sign with the UFC and Bellator invoked their right to match the offer.
All in all, there’s a lot to be considered for the long-term health of the sport. Having a second major promotion would benefit the industry in every way imaginable, but whether Bellator can survive business forces long enough to be a contender remains a topic for debate.
Did Dana White study voodoo from Michael Jackson or something? Because Bellator has had worse luck than than nearly any promotion in the history of MMA when it comes to launching a successful PPV.
In case the headline didn’t tip you off, Eddie Alvarez is out of Bellator 120—the promotion’s second attempt to break into the PPV market. His rubber match with Michael Chandler will have to wait.
(Well, in a way, MMA’s “greatest trilogy” did kind of end at Bellator 120…)
Did Dana White study voodoo from Michael Jackson or something? Because Bellator has had worse luck than nearly any promotion in the history of MMA when it comes to launching a successful PPV.
In case the headline didn’t tip you off, Eddie Alvarez is out of Bellator 120—the promotion’s second attempt to break into the PPV market. His rubber match with Michael Chandler will have to wait.
Sherdog’s Greg Savage broke the news on Twitter last night. Initially, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebneydenied the rumor, saying the fight was still on. Less than 24 hours later, Bellator hasn’t officially announced anything but mediaoutlets are accepting Alvarez’s withdrawal as fact.
What’ll they do now? Hopefully they convert it to a free card on Spike, like they did with their last ill-fated PPV. It’s unlikely Rampage Jackson vs. King Mo, Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko, Michael Page vs. Rick Rainey [Editor’s note: They were charging money for that fight?] and Will Brooks vs. Nate Jolly will be worth the price of admission. Regarding the last fight, Brooks vs. Jolly, it’s speculated that Brooks will be bumped into the main event against Chandler but who can say for sure.
What, you haven’t heard of Bo Fung Do? Are you some kind of martial arts hobbyist or something? We only cater to hardcore fans at CagePotato, so here’s the rundown:
Bo Fung Do is “a martial art system geared for practical self defense against one or more opponents.” It’s a Wing Chun offshoot whose name means “The Way of the Sudden Storm.”
Judging by the above video, there’s no better way to prepare for a street fight against multiple opponents than to flail at opponents adorned in more padding than a self-conscious teenage girl’s bra.
Actually, we’re not being fair. There’s another crucial aspect to this ancient, prestigious art: Fighting in front of some strobe lights while being blasted with fake snow. See a video of it after the jump.
What, you haven’t heard of Bo Fung Do? Are you some kind of martial arts hobbyist or something? We only cater to hardcore fans at CagePotato, so here’s the rundown:
Bo Fung Do is “a martial art system geared for practical self defense against one or more opponents.” It’s a Wing Chun offshoot whose name means “The Way of the Sudden Storm.”
Judging by the above video, there’s no better way to prepare for a street fight against multiple enemies than to flail at opponents adorned in more padding than a self-conscious teenage girl’s bra.
Actually, we’re not being fair. There’s another crucial aspect to this ancient, prestigious art: Fighting in front of some strobe lights while being blasted with fake snow.
To be fair, this isn’t the worst school we’ve seen on Martial Arts Fail. The facilities these guys have (the foam padded rooms, the environmental hazard rooms) are actually pretty cool. It’d be interesting to train some real martial arts in those rooms to see what it’s like to fight on a hard surface in the rain rather than open mat space or in a cage. And it’s good that they’re at least trying to do some full contact…they just do it wrong. Look at the video. What is that going to teach the guy getting “attacked?” If three dudes were trying to beat you down, they wouldn’t be awkwardly smothering you, they’d be stomping the shit out of you and punching you. And they wouldn’t be easily dispatched by some slaps either.
The verdict on Bo Fung Do? Their hearts are in the right place, but pretty much everything else is as far from real fighting as you can get. Check out the rest of their YouTube channel to see what we mean.
If you see any video that’s good (or bad) enough to make the cut, let us know! Send it to [email protected].
Food is the most underrated, undiscussed aspect of MMA fandom. Watching other people fight requires constant sustenance. The calories you burn shadowboxing with your shirt off during commercials don’t replenish themselves, you know.
As with other aspects of the sport, eating at a high level requires loads of nuance—more than many fans are aware of. We’re experts on the topic, though, so we figured we’d drop a little knowledge today.
First off, you should only eat certain kinds of food. I missed the Donald Cerrone punch that nearly KO’d Edson Barboza because I was cutting a chimichanga. The lesson learned? Do not eat food requiring too much attention.
Food is to enhance your MMA viewing, not replace it. The food makes the event festive, but is not the festivity in and of itself, like Thanksgiving turkey. The chimichanga I ate was delicious, but cumbersome and unwieldy. I had to spend time looking down—away from the computer and television—to cut it into a more manageable size. Even then, I had to be extremely careful when lifting it into my mouth with a fork. I didn’t want chicken, cheese, refried beans, and other greasy goodness spilling onto my keyboard.
Which reminds me, if you’re going to be live-tweeting or live-blogging a fight card, you can’t eat something that makes your fingers gross and sticky. That means no ribs, and no burgers that are dripping with ketchup or other condiments. I thought Cool Ranch Doritos Tacos might be safe one Bellator event, only to find that the Cool Ranch dust was all over my fingertips. My jokes were seconds late—an eternity on twitter—and the CagePotato twitter lost out on precious engagement statistics.
An additional thing to consider: Never eat something that will give you diarrhea. I can’t stress that enough. You don’t want to spend $60 on a PPV just to wind up giving the bathroom a new paint job and missing all the in-cage action.
So what foods are safe?
(Gobbling down buffalo wings = UFC on FOX. Being excited about iceberg lettuce = watching Fight Pass GIFs on a late-’90s Toshiba Satellite.)
Food is the most underrated, undiscussed aspect of MMA fandom. Watching other people fight requires constant sustenance. The calories you burn shadowboxing with your shirt off during commercials don’t replenish themselves, you know.
As with other aspects of the sport, eating at a high level requires loads of nuance—more than many fans are aware of. We’re experts on the topic, though, so we figured we’d drop a little knowledge today.
First off, you should only eat certain kinds of food. I missed the Donald Cerrone punch that nearly KO’d Edson Barboza because I was cutting a chimichanga. The lesson learned? Do not eat food requiring too much attention.
Food is to enhance your MMA viewing, not replace it. The food makes the event festive, but is not the festivity in and of itself, like Thanksgiving turkey. The chimichanga I ate was delicious, but cumbersome and unwieldy. I had to spend time looking down—away from the computer and television—to cut it into a more manageable size. Even then, I had to be extremely careful when lifting it into my mouth with a fork. I didn’t want chicken, cheese, refried beans, and other greasy goodness spilling onto my keyboard.
Which reminds me, if you’re going to be live-tweeting or live-blogging a fight card, you can’t eat something that makes your fingers gross and sticky. That means no ribs, and no burgers that are dripping with ketchup or other condiments. I thought Cool Ranch Doritos Tacos might be safe one Bellator event, only to find that the Cool Ranch dust was all over my fingertips. My jokes were seconds late—an eternity on twitter—and the CagePotato twitter lost out on precious engagement statistics.
An additional thing to consider: Never eat something that will give you diarrhea. I can’t stress that enough. You don’t want to spend $60 on a PPV just to wind up giving the bathroom a new paint job and missing all the in-cage action.
So what foods are safe?
We at CagePotato prefer simple sandwiches from local reputable delicatessens. A turkey sandwich with pepper jack cheese can be eaten while you look forwards at the TV screen. Pizza is alright too, though if your “ristorante” uses sauce that’s a little too acidic, you might find yourself with heart burn or indigestion while you watch the fights. Chinese? It depends. We’re not partial to anything that requires consistent looking down. If you’re eating chicken and broccoli, you have to keep looking down to put some on your fork. The more times you look down, the more likely it is you’ll miss something spectacular. Burgers can be alright so long as they’re not big and messy, though we’re not terribly partial to them. If you’re a skilled burger eater though, maybe you could give them a shot.
But we’ve only just scratched the surface. There’s still another layer of analysis and thought that must go into your choice of MMA food: What kind of card are you watching?
In the early days of MMA, you could splurge when a PPV came around because they were an event rather than a nuisance. In 2014, when oversaturation has plagued the sport to the point where the UFC holds two cards in the same day, you can’t splurge. You must consider your options carefully, and purchase food according to the level of what you’re watching. We’ve separated it into tiers.
Fight Pass Exclusive Card: DiGiorno, Tombstone, or Red Barron frozen pizzas. Yes, Fight Pass cards are usually this bad.
UFC on FOX Sports 2 Card: Dominoes, Papa John’s, Little Caesar’s, or other cardboard but still fun pizzas. Subway for sandwiches. McDonald’s or any of the usual suspects if you insist on burgers.
UFC on FOX Sports 1 Card: Five Guys, Smash Burger, or any other “real” burger chain. The “real” pizza place that sucks but stays in business because they deliver and the good pizza place doesn’t. If you’re going to deploy Chinese food, do it on a card like this. Go to the deli but get a standard sandwich lacking grandeur.
PPV with a garbage-ass main card: Save your fucking money and don’t buy any special or fun food to celebrate. Maybe get some ice cream if there’s a parlor near you and the weather permits it. Don’t spend extra cash on toppings unless you’re bringing six figures to the bank every year.
PPV with a worthy main card: Splurge. Experiment. Do whatever the hell you want. Maybe get a specialty sandwich at the deli that you normally wouldn’t get. Maybe try some Mexican takeout so long as it’s not too complicated to eat or will make you crap. It’s rare enough to have a great PPV these days, so go wild but please try to stay within the above guidelines to optimize enjoyment of the UFC PPV.
This afternoon, the LA Times reported the UFC booked Chad Mendes in a rematch with featherweight champ Jose Aldo. The fight will take place at UFC 176 this August in Los Angeles.
This is one instance of a rematch we don’t necessarily mind seeing (unlike some rematches that don’t ever need to happen again. Ever.). Mendes has been on a warpath since losing to Aldo back at UFC 142 in 2012, winning five fights in a row over the likes of Clay Guida and…Clay Guida.
(Photo via Getty)
This afternoon, the LA Times reported that the UFC booked Chad Mendes in a rematch with featherweight champ Jose Aldo. The fight will take place at UFC 176 this August in Los Angeles.
This is one instance of a rematch we don’t necessarily mind seeing (unlike some rematches that don’t ever need to happen again. Ever.). Mendes has been on a warpath since losing to Aldo back at UFC 142 in 2012, winning five fights in a row over the likes of Clay Guida and…Clay Guida.
Okay so the division is a little thin, but Mendes’ style still poses a threat to Aldo who, according to Dana White, has been looking like shit lately despite outclassing the entire division. If you recall, some say a controversial fence-grab gave Aldo the leverage to ward off a Mendes takedown and knee his head into the stands. Perhaps this is the truth and Mendes is the man to beat Aldo? Unfortunately for Mendes, wonder-coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig is no longer available to help him, which can only be a detriment.
At the time of writing, no other bookings have been announced for UFC 176. We’ll post more updates as we get them.
