When Scott Coker took over as president of Bellator MMA earlier this year, fans expected to see Viacom’s mixed martial arts property transform into something of an amalgamation of the Bellator we know and the defunct Strikeforce promotion.
In the span of just over four months, Coker has signed names like Bobby Lashley, Paul Daley, Melvin Manhoef, and Joe Schilling. Not to mention grabbing up UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar for a showdown with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.
The tournament format and weekly shows are gone, and Bellator is setting out to put on the biggest fights possible. But is it investing too much time and effort into aging legends and not enough into growing prospects?
The main event of Bellator 131 is between two UFC Hall of Famers who retired in UFC after going on irreversible slumps. If Ortiz vs. Bonnar was the best fight Bellator could make on a given card, then by all means, make it the main event. But the co-headliner of that show features two of their best fighters in the rematch between Michael Chandler and Will Brooks for the Bellator lightweight title.
That fight should be taking top billing as it’s a championship bout, and so all the casual-fan eyeballs gained by Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar can be shown that Bellator has more to offer than just ex-UFC fighters looking to get a few more cracks at glory.
The better-known fighters should be used as a test against Bellator’s homegrown talent and in showcase fights against up-and-coming fighters. Aside from focusing on just its younger crop of talent already on the roster, Bellator should actively pursue legitimate prospects in mixed martial arts.
It is scooping up notable talents from the kickboxing, professional wrestling and jiu-jitsu worlds, but they need to try to get their hands on young talent from the MMA sphere. It does a good job of finding local fighters to fill up its undercards, but it needs to look deeper to scout the fighters who are making the bigger waves on the regional circuit.
I do think that once Bellator gets into the rhythm of putting on the events that Coker wants, the matchups will get better and the mix of homegrown talent, notable combat sports athletes, and the old guard can all fight each other, and if Coker plays his cards right, they can capitalize on some big fights along the way.
Coker certainly has the eye for prospects in mixed martial arts. Just look at the talent that came out of Strikeforce. Daniel Cormier, Ronda Rousey, Tyron Woodley, Tarec Saffiedine all came up through Strikeforce and are now making it at the upper echelon of the UFC.
Before it was bought by Zuffa and picked clean of stars, Strikeforce had a good balance of prospects and well-known fighters, and the Strikeforce Challengers series was a great way to showcase developing talent.
During a media tour for the upcoming Bellator 131 event, Coker told MMAFighting.com that the organization will continue to focus some of their efforts on new talent, saying:
As you guys know, I think we’re very good at building fighters from the ground up. We’ll buy some when the free-agency market starts heating up a little bit. But we’re going to take a step back [from PPV], why not build these fighters that we are going to promote in front of 100 million households.
Coker was referring to their shifting focus away from pay-per-view events and to putting big fights on Spike TV. The 10 seasons featuring tournaments have thus far given Bellator a solid base of homegrown talent.
Add in the big-name free agents that have been signed and Coker’s penchant for finding the next big star, and you’ve got the ingredients for a great roster and great shows.
Finding prospects in MMA is no easy task, and if brought along too quickly, their hype can fizzle out quickly. Coker has proven to be up to the task, and hopefully Bellator can renew its focus of growing prospects into legitimate contenders.
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