This just in: Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney and UFC President Dana White don’t like each other very much.
The latest in the feud between the top executives in the mixed martial arts world began on Saturday, when White sent out a tweet mocking Rebney after Eddie Alvarez recaptured the Bellator lightweight strap from Michael Chandler.
I’m hearing Djork oops Bjork got served a big fat plate of Karma tonight 🙂 Congrats Eddie!!
— Dana White (@danawhite) November 3, 2013
Alvarez was on the shelf for over a year due to a long, drawn-out legal battle with Bellator, as they refused to let him take his talents to the Octagon.
After Alvarez vs. Chandler II was announced in August, both sides acted as if the past was the past, but it’s hard to believe there isn’t some bad blood lingering.
Rebney‘s reaction, per Bloody Elbow, after Alvarez won the title back after a hard-fought 25-minute battle speaks volumes about the tumultuous relationship.
Now that the Bellator 106 ratings have come in, bringing in an all-time high of 1.1 million viewers according to a press release from Spike TV sent to Bleacher Report, Rebney didn’t mind letting White know about the latest numbers.
@danawhite If Fight of the Year & 10 times better ratings than you did on your last televised show is Karma, bring me another plate.
— Bjorn Rebney (@BjornRebney) November 5, 2013
The UFC’s last event televised on FOX Sports 2, UFC Fight Night 2, drew in a lackluster 122,000 viewers according to MMA Payout, though it’s worth mentioning that the show took place in England and therefore aired in the afternoon in the United States.
Additionally, MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti reports that in a conference call, White stated that his initial tweet was clearly talking about the contract situation with Alvarez and nothing else.
I have no comment on that. When I sent that karma text, everybody knows what I was talking about. He tried to f–k this kid, and then he loses. What was he shaking his head about if he was so f–king pumped about his evening? (*Louder*) If his evening was that wonderful and he was so pumped about it, why was he back there shaking his head and looked like he wanted to f–king kill himself?
While Alvarez vs. Chandler II was unquestionably a phenomenal fight that is among the year’s best, few other bouts at Bellator 106 delivered, so it will be quite telling to see how high the ratings of the next Bellator show are.
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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