The next Battlegrounds MMA show is this Friday night at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The show will feature a one-night elimination eight-man tournament, and will cost 19.95 on pay-per-view. But is it worth buying?
The tournament format is an interesting concept, and a lot of mixed martial arts fans are nostalgic of the old days when fighting up to three times a night was the norm for fighters like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Don Frye and Mark Coleman. We’ve seen plenty of tournaments in Bellator, but this one is a one-night elimination tournament, something about that just gets MMA fans excited.
The eight men who will not know their first-round opponents until the day of the weigh-ins are Roan Carneiro, Luigi Fioravanti, Trey Houston, Brock Larson, Cody McKenzie, Joe Ray, Jesse Taylor and Randall Wallace.
The commentators for the show will be professional wrestling commentary legend Jim Ross and recently retired/disgraced MMA fighter Chael Sonnen. The two will undoubtedly make for an interesting call, but is it worth paying your actual money for?
How should we feel about one-night tournaments anyway? Should we appreciate them for their violent and volatile nature, where the winner will have accomplished a true feat in the sport by winning three times in one night? Or should we consider them something of the past, that MMA has rid itself of on its quest to make the sport as safe as possible for the athletes?
Aside from the tournament, Battlegrounds MMA will have a few other fights on the card. The co-main event is a lightweight fight between Danny Navarro (11-4) and Jonny Carson (11-6). Oklahoma featherweight prospect Jamal Parks (3-0) takes on Ruben Warr, and Tyler Shinn (6-2) takes on Chris Gutierrez (4-1) in a bantamweight fight.
The main focus of the card will be on the tournament, which provided all the fights of each round go forward, will require seven fights in total. I can’t tell you how to spend your money, as that is ultimately up to you.
But if you find yourself buying mixed martial arts pay-per-view events, this is one you might want to watch. The talent pool in the tournament is an interesting mix of lightweights, featherweights, welterweights, and even a middleweight or two all competing at 170 pounds.
We don’t know what the matchups will be, and that is something that sets this card apart from the week-in week-out UFC and Bellator schedules. Of course, we will know come fight night the first four fights of the tournament, but it is anyone’s guess who is going to make it to the finals.
The real reason to watch this show is Jim Ross making his mixed martial arts commentating debut. He recently called a boxing event on Fox Sports 1, and I for one am dying to hear him call an MMA fight.
We’ve seen a few different sides of Chael Sonnen on the mic recently. We all know “The Bad Guy” gimmick that he would put on ahead of his fights, and we’ve seen him in serious circumstances as well in his recent retirement and dealings with the NSAC.
On commentary we’ll most likely see a more nuanced version of The American Gangster, who will surely be excited to be sitting next to Good Ole’ J.R. There are a lot of things that set this event apart from what we normally see, and at a price point of under 20 bucks, it’s worth taking a look at.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com