World-ranked bantamweight fighter Eduardo Dantas is the reigning Bellator bantamweight champion and was considered to be one of the top stars in the world’s largest non-Zuffa fight organization.
Yesterday, Dantas took part in Shooto Brazil 33, where he met Tyson Nam in the evening’s main event. In a result that shocked fans, Dantas was knocked out with a punch at 1:40 into the first round.
Fortunately, Bellator President Bjorn Rebney is already bald; otherwise he would likely be ripping out his hair.
This marks the second time in only 10 months that a Bellator champion has been defeated in a non-title bout. Light heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu lost a unanimous decision to Travis Wiuff in October at Bellator 55.
Bellator is known for putting together exciting contests between hungry up-and-comers who are eager to make it to the big leagues. However, their champions tend to miss out on the respect shown to the top fighters of other major organizations.
Perhaps Bellator should do away with allowing their champions to compete in non-title contests. There is too much risk of hurting the perceived value of the belts, and there is little upside.
The loss for Dantas is a big setback for Bellator, as Tyson Nam isn’t a member of BFC’s roster. Now that Nam has a big victory under his belt, it’s likely that the UFC has him on their radar, which could make things difficult for Bellator to acquire his services.
How does this affect Bellator as a whole? What are your thoughts on an unknown fighter like Nam pulling off such a major win? Should he sign with Bellator or hold out for a UFC contract?
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