Bellator is back on Spike this Friday with its next “tentpole” event, headlined by Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice. The fight might be seven years past its sell-by date in the minds of hardcore MMA fans, but it’s likely casual fans will tune in in droves to watch the aging legend compete against the bare-knuckle street fighter.
Below the headliner, the show is stacked with talent. Former lightweight champion Michael Chandler returns to action against Derek Campos and will be looking to end a three-fight skid. The Bellator featherweight title is on the line as champion Patricio “Pitbull” Friere defends against Daniel Weichel.
Beyond the big quarterly event, Bellator doesn’t have a lot of fights booked. With only two more events officially planned and nothing on paper beyond July, the promotion could go in a number of different directions.
Bleacher Report MMA spoke with Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith for an exclusive, two-part interview to get his thoughts on a wide range of topics in MMA, including Bellator 138 and what might be next for some of the mainstays in Bellator.
In Part 1, Smith discussed the UFC’s Reebok deal and the injury epidemic, as well as the current state of drug testing in MMA and the UFC’s new comprehensive testing plan. Part 2 covers his thoughts on the future inside the Bellator cage and which fights he’s most looking forward to.
Bleacher Report: What are your thoughts on the Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice matchup?
Jimmy Smith: With some fights you talk about technique, and the implications of the fight, and where they sit in the division. This is not one of those fights (laughs).
This is one of those blood-feud type of fights, where the selling point is the animosity and history that these guys have. It’s easy for a lot of fans to understand and easy for people who know the name recognition of these two guys to get into. These two seriously hate each other, and it’s going to be brutal and short in my opinion.
B/R: Bellator 138 has a few interesting fights on it. Which one are you most interested in?
JS: I would say Pitbull vs. Weichel. For a while, it was kind of a round robin between Pitbull, [Pat] Curran and [Daniel] Straus. They would rematch one another, and no guy could really establish himself as the best.
I think Pitbull did that with his comeback win over Daniel Straus. He kind of raised himself above the class at 145 pounds. So I think with a dominant win over Weichel, he can really establish himself as a guy who’s going to hold the belt for a long time, which is really hard to do at 145.
So I think he’s really motivated and pound-for-pound one of the hardest punchers in MMA, and Weichel is tough as nails, so this is a fight I’m really looking forward to.
B/R: What are your thoughts on Michael Chandler vs. Derek Campos at Bellator 138?
JS: Backed against the wall, that’s where Chandler is right now. He lost his last three fights. They were very close, obviously aside from the last knockout against Will Brooks. Even thought two of those fights could have gone the other way, it doesn’t take a lot for fans to write you off as a gatekeeper or a journeyman.
And Chandler knows that. And when we talked about this fight, the first thing Chandler said was “Campos is a tough dude. He’s resilient, and strong and aggressive.”
The problem is that Chandler has always fought to be the tougher guy. He likes to walk forward and make it a brawl, and Campos might be the wrong guy to do that against.
B/R: How big of an opportunity is this fight for Campos?
JS: There are only two kinds of fights. I say this all the time. There are easy fights and great opportunities. When the promoter comes to you and offers you an easy fight, that is the other guy’s great opportunity. Because the promoter went to him and offered him an opportunity to take on the No. 1-ranked guy on two weeks’ notice. That’s how a fight is sold to you.
It’s either “the guy is a scrub and you’re going to beat him up” or “you’re taking on the No. 1 guy, which is a great opportunity.” So you can never overlook either one of those. Because your easy fight is the other guy’s great opportunity.
B/R: We recently learned that Pat Curran’s Bellator 139 fight will be against Emmanuel Sanchez. What are your thoughts on Sanchez taking this fight?
JS: Sanchez has a big fight in front of him on very short notice. When I look at this fight, I like what I see from Sanchez. I like his kickboxing and his versatility. The difficulty is going to be on Pat Curran’s side.
Pat was getting ready for Goiti Yamauchi, whose style is really unorthodox. I would say Sanchez knows what he’ll be fighting against more than Curran does. Curran will be in better shape and better physically prepared.
But he was training for Yamauchi, who’s got a weird rubber guard, who’s unorthodox in everything he does.
Now he’s fighting a guy from Roufusport, who’s an outstanding kickboxer with great stand-up, not as much about the funky ground game. He’s fighting a totally different opponent on short notice.
Both guys are making adjustments. Pat is making tactical adjustments, and Sanchez is making physical adjustments. Whoever responds to those adjustments the best is the guy who’s going to win in my book.
B/R: What can people expect from the welterweight championship fight at Bellator 140 between Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov?
JS: Lima vs. Koreshkov is a fight that I’ve wanted to see for a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a welterweight who is Douglas Lima’s size. The dude is a giant. He is huge for 170 pounds.
But Koreshkov packs the same kind of punch as Lima. Both guys can starch you with one shot, easily. So Lima might have the physical advantage, but if Koreshkov turns over a punch, he can knock Lima out just as easily as he can get knocked out.
Both guys need to be aggressive, and both guys need to bring their A-game. Lima has shown devastating leg kicks, and that might be the difference. Koreshkov has relied heavily on his punches, and Lima has stopped two guys with leg kicks. So he has the more versatile offense, but both guys are capable of knockouts.
B/R: What are your thoughts on the welterweight division as a whole, given Bellator 140 features an entire main card with welterweight fights?
JS: [Welterweight] is one of those weight classes that are talented across the board. WSOF has Toquinho, Jake Shields, Jon Fitch. We have Douglas Lima, Koreshkov, Paul Daley. One FC has Ben Askren, and the UFC is full of talent.
I think what Lima has to do to establish himself is stay busy. What’s hurting him has been injuries. He needs to stay on a winning streak in order to really ride to the top of the division at 170. It’s so challenging all across the board, that if you step off for a year, the next guy is going to end up on top. You have to be really impressive to stay on the map at 170 pounds.
B/R: Bellator has gotten rid of the tournament format, but Bellator 140 looks a lot like a welterweight tournament. Do you think we’ll see the winners face one another in sort of a loosely structured tournament?
JS: When Scott Coker took over Bellator, one thing he said was that we were getting away from the consistent tournament format. It doesn’t mean there won’t be tournaments. So it wouldn’t surprise me if you saw the occasional tournament. So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we see the winners of these welterweight fights taking on one another.
B/R: Who do you think is closest to a title shot in Bellator at 170 pounds?
JS: I would say Paul Daley at the moment. The dude has knockout power in both hands. He’s got the right attitude, and he’s got finishing power. And the fans know him because he’s been in the game for a long time.
Michael “Venom” Page has a great style, and he’s really entertaining. But he hasn’t been around long enough to really build up that American fanbase yet. He’s not far off the radar, especially if he gets an impressive win.
Brennan Ward always comes with action and is really fun to watch. He’s a powerful, physical wrestler, and I’d put him in the mix as well. I’d say Daley is at the forefront though right now at 170 in Bellator.
B/R: What do you think is the biggest benefit of Bellator bringing in combat athletes from other sports?
JS: It’s beneficial because they come in with a fanbase already. The problem is that they come in with a lot of hype but not a lot of experience in MMA. As we saw in Joe Schilling’s last fight, he got beaten, and it can really derail you.
He’s got great kickboxing, but no one with a brain is going to stand and kickbox with Joe Schilling. So he has to work on his wrestling, and his jiu-jitsu, and the rest of his offensive abilities in mixed martial arts.
Whenever you bring in somebody from other sports, they bring in a big fanbase, but they are not mixed martial artists yet. They haven’t really cut their teeth in MMA, so you’re putting a lot of stock, investment and time into somebody who hasn’t really proved himself in the cage.
B/R: How soon before we see the super-prospect Aaron Pico in the Bellator cage?
JS: He’s been training for a long time, with his striking and his jiu-jitsu. I would say after the Olympics or the Olympic trials; it would be pretty soon afterward.
The problem with wrestling is that it’s very hard to make a living in wrestling. Unless you come out with a gold medal and get a coaching gig, it’s very hard to make a living. I don’t see it taking that long before we see him in MMA.
B/R: How important is it for Bellator to find prospects early in their career?
JS: That is everything. Catching those guys right when they are coming up is everything. Finding the diamonds in the rough is what Bellator is trying to do.
You can bring over talented guys from the UFC, or other promotions who already have a fanbase behind them, but that’s going to cost you a lot of money. Bringing up prospects, getting them when they are just starting out and grooming them in Bellator is the most efficient way to build a promotion.
The downside is that you don’t always know what you’re getting until they get in the cage and prove it. But as far as building the promotion, you have to have your own homegrown talent.
B/R: There aren’t a lot of fights booked currently in Bellator. What fights would you like to see get made?
JS: I’m really interested in what happens at 135 pounds. I think that is a division that has a lot of talent in it. I cannot wait to see L.C. Davis and Hideo Tokoro fight again.
In the first fight L.C. Davis literally got his teeth kicked in and finished out the fight. It was amazing. [Marcos] Galvao submits Joe Warren with a kneebar, and Joe Warren is screaming and yelling that he wants a rematch.
And then you have Mike “The Marine” Richman losing a close decision to [Eduardo] Dantas. So that’s a division that I want to call Scott Coker and ask what is next at 135 pounds.
B/R: Do you think “King” Mo Lawal should keep fighting at heavyweight or go back down to light heavyweight?
JS: I think he should go back to 205. One of the reasons that we saw the style that we saw is that you don’t want to trade punches with Cheick Kongo. Guys at 265, if you trade punches with them and catch a glancing blow, you’re done.
I think King Mo had a very healthy respect for that and stuck to his wrestling. I think he has more exciting fights at 205, and there is more of a chance for him to display what he is good at. His explosiveness, his transition game, those things come out a lot better at 205.
I think he’s going to fight a bit safer at heavyweight. I think there are just more opportunities for him and more exciting fights for him at 205.
B/R: What should Bellator do with Phil Davis for his first fight?
JS: There are a lot of options for Phil Davis at 205. He came in from the UFC and is a great fighter in the top five at 205.
Yet, do you throw him in against someone like King Mo, who would be a very tough fight for him? Or do you throw him some softballs and let him get acclimated before you put him in there against guys like [Linton] Vassell, [Emanuel] Newton, and [Liam] McGeary?
There are some tough dudes at 205 pounds in Bellator. I’d like to see him thrown in against the best immediately, but I am a fan. I think he’s experienced enough and prepared enough that he can go in there against the best.
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You can next listen to Smith’s color commentary at Bellator 138: Unfinished Business on June 19 on Spike.
Mike Wellman is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, and all quotes were obtained firsthand.
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