Credit Bellator MMA matchmaker Sam Caplan for finally getting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a debut fight against UFC veteran “The Mexicutioner” Joey Beltran at Bellator 108.
On top of a Bellator heavyweight title bout between champion Alexander Volkov and undefeated challenger Vitaly Minakov, as well as a featherweight tournament final between Patricio Freire and Justin Wilcox, the bout on paper promises to at least attract new heads to the Bellator brand of MMA.
After the loss of Bellator 106’s original headliner of Jackson vs. Tito Ortiz caused the would-be pay-per-view to become a free card with a Bellator lightweight title fight between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler at the top of the bill, though, doesn’t one think that Bellator needed to learn their lesson by now?
Adding former UFC talent may attract older fans to their cards, but in all honesty, they won’t see the “Rampage” of the Pride days against the Beltran who many felt held a good chance to contend for the UFC heavyweight title at the start of his UFC run. Instead, they will witness one UFC veteran and one MMA legend looking to reset themselves on the winning track. Of course, no one will dare to ask the “relevancy” question, as Beltran only recently lost to Fabio Maldonado, and Jackson will always remain relevant in MMA conversation due to his legendary battles.
Still, does the potential for a knockout really trump that of the heavyweight title fight?
Traditionally, non-title fights do not take precedence over title fights, regardless of potential entertainment value, especially on a billing which plans to host a heavyweight title fight. UFC 51, though, does hold regard as the most recent MMA card to host a non-title fight as the headliner, even with an interim heavyweight title fight on the card. So perhaps Bellator knows more about what it plans to do with “Rampage vs. Beltran” as the headliner than we do.
That notwithstanding, Volkov vs. Minakov should not fall by the wayside. Though it does not likely stand to play out like the Cain Velasquez-Junior dos Santos trilogy, it does hold all the potential to put on one of the more underrated heavyweight contests in recent memory. Both men carry their own reputations for finishing fights, and with Volkov’s rather lanky frame, it becomes a point of interest to see whether Minakov can keep Volkov from controlling the distance.
In short, it tops the current headliner because one undefeated prospect, challenging for a world title, and his opponent, a title-holding prospect, hold potential to demonstrate what the future promises for both Bellator and the sport of MMA, especially in the heavyweight ranks. Instead of promoting this, Bellator signed recently released UFC talent and longtime UFC veterans in an attempt to battle the competition.
At another time, that would work to perfection and divide the MMA world’s attention, but with Bellator, fans knew better from the minute they first viewed their product. They possess homegrown talent that some herald as the absolute best in the sport right now. Fans will not know what kind of good thing the sport has waiting for them in the future, though, unless promotions like Bellator begin to showcase those prospects now.
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