It seems like it’s been awhile, but Bellator finally returns Friday with its 123rd card. Live from Connecticut, the bout features a title fight and numerous stars of the company.
Pat Curran and Patricio Freire headline the card with Curran’s 145-pound …
It seems like it’s been awhile, but Bellator finally returns Friday with its 123rd card. Live from Connecticut, the bout features a title fight and numerous stars of the company.
Pat Curran and Patricio Freire headline the card with Curran’s 145-pound belt on the line. It is a rematch from nearly two years ago, when Curran edged Freire by decision.
This card will be going up directly against UFC Fight Night 50, which could affect the ratings. However, given the title fight, it could attract some UFC fans away from the Fox Sports 1 card.
With that, let’s take a look at the four-fight main card, preview the bouts and make some predictions for the night.
Except it wasn’t the end. According to a report from Ariel Helwani, Bonnar has signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator, and may also do some broadcasting work for the promotion on Spike TV. Bonnar’s debut date and opponent haven’t been revealed yet, but the rumor is that he’ll be fighting fellow UFC HoF’er Tito Ortiz, and he’s already angling for the match:
“I want everyone to know I’m coming out of retirement because it’s time to free the MMA world of the virus that’s known as Tito Ortiz,” Bonnar said in a statement provided by Bellator. “We’ve been suffering through his boring fights for too many years, and it’s about time that someone beats it out of him once and for all.”
In response, Ortiz promised to beat the juice out of him, and called him a #BitchBoy. Strong words, indeed.
Just four months ago, Bonnar told BloodyElbow that he wouldn’t fight for any other promotion besides the UFC, and that he’s currently enjoying his new life as a day-trader. (“It’s about loyalty,” Bonnar said. “More than anything, I take pride in being a part of the UFC and I wouldn’t want to screw that up.”) Well, loyalty only goes so far when Spikeforce is dangling a huge paycheck in front of you.
Bellator CEO Scott Coker had this to say about the Bonnar signing:
Except it wasn’t the end. According to a report from Ariel Helwani, Bonnar has signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator, and may also do some broadcasting work for the promotion on Spike TV. Bonnar’s debut date and opponent haven’t been revealed yet, but the rumor is that he’ll be fighting fellow UFC HoF’er Tito Ortiz, and he’s already angling for the match:
“I want everyone to know I’m coming out of retirement because it’s time to free the MMA world of the virus that’s known as Tito Ortiz,” Bonnar said in a statement provided by Bellator. “We’ve been suffering through his boring fights for too many years, and it’s about time that someone beats it out of him once and for all.”
In response, Ortiz promised to beat the juice out of him, and called him a #BitchBoy. Strong words, indeed.
Just four months ago, Bonnar told BloodyElbow that he wouldn’t fight for any other promotion besides the UFC, and that he’s currently enjoying his new life as a day-trader. (“It’s about loyalty,” Bonnar said. “More than anything, I take pride in being a part of the UFC and I wouldn’t want to screw that up.”) Well, loyalty only goes so far when Spikeforce is dangling a huge paycheck in front of you.
Bellator CEO Scott Coker had this to say about the Bonnar signing:
“Stephan is a guy that has been a huge part of this sport and we are excited have him part of the roster. He was one half of probably the greatest and one of the most important fights in MMA history, and it happened on Spike. [Ed. note:LOL…very subtle knife-twisting, Scott.] When you look at our light heavyweight division, with names like Rampage, Tito, King Mo, Emanuel Newton and others, there are a lot of fights Stephan can be involved in. Big fights against big names. After talking to Stephan, I know that’s what he wants, and we want to provide that to our fans.”
As Tito might say, FOTS SHIRED. Of course, seeing Stephan Bonnar slug it out with the likes of Ortiz and Rampage Jackson in the year 2014 isn’t exactly MMA at its finest. (Or more accurately, it’s 2007 MMA at its finest.) Then again, Bellator has just brought another well-known name onto its roster. Who needs Attila Vegh when you have the American Psycho?
We’ll let you know when Bonnar’s first Bellator fight is confirmed.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 finalist Stephan Bonnar will fight again, and it won’t be inside the legendary UFC Octagon.
Despite being a UFC Hall of Fame inductee, Bonnar’s next fight will come under the Bellator MMA banner, according to a …
The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 finalist Stephan Bonnar will fight again, and it won’t be inside the legendary UFC Octagon.
Despite being a UFC Hall of Fame inductee, Bonnar‘s next fight will come under the BellatorMMA banner, according to a report from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. While no official debut fight is set for Bonnar at this time, all signs point toward a Bonnar vs. Tito Ortiz showdown in the near future.
“I want everyone to know I’m coming out of retirement because it’s time to free the MMA world of the virus that’s known as Tito Ortiz,” Bonnar said in a statement provided by Bellator (via Helwani). “We’ve been suffering through his boring fights for too many years, and it’s about time that someone beats it out of him once and for all.”
In addition to Bonnar‘s statement through Bellator, Twitter personality Brian McMahon (@FrontRowBrian) tweeted last week that Bonnar vs. Ortiz was set and that UFC President Dana White “gave Bonnar his blessing.”
While McMahon sometimes serves up erroneous reports, he also breaks factual, high-profile reports from time to time, and coupled with Bonnar‘s statement and recent signing with Bellator, it appears we may be able to file this tweet into the latter category.
As fun as this news is, it’s hard to get too excited about the Bonnar vs. Ortiz fight itself. Bonnar is 37 years old, and he hasn’t fought since a one-round blowout against Anderson Silva at UFC 153. In that matchup, Bonnar was juiced to the gills, and he failed to so much as touch Silva before crumpling to a ferocious knee to the solar plexus late in Round 1.
Ortiz, meanwhile, last fought in May of this year, when he defeated Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 120 via first-round submission. Before that, Ortiz suffered through a three-fight skid in the UFC, losing to Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via TKO and dropping a decision to Forrest Griffin.
Despite this, Bonnar vs. Ortiz possesses just enough star power and name recognition to plant some butts in seats. While it won’t serve as a showcase of the pinnacle of talent in MMA today, it will still be fun to see two aging veterans enter the cage and slug it out before riding into the sunset of their careers.
For such a respectful, soft-spoken guy, Bellator President Scott Coker has absolutely no problem firing dudes by the dozen. In June, he slashed 19 jobs just a week after joining the organization. And now, 13 more Bellator fighters have been released, as MMAFighting confirmed yesterday evening. Here they are, in order of most surprising to least surprising…
Attila Vegh (5-1 in Bellator), who won the 2012 light heavyweight tournament, then became Bellator’s 205-pound champion with a decision win over Christian M’Pumbu in February 2013. In March of this year, he lost his title in a rematch against Emanuel Newton; Vegh and Newton now hold split-decision victories over each other. Vegh’s dismissal is kind of inexplicable. He’s one of the best light-heavyweights Bellator had under contract, and a rubber-match against Newton seemed like an obvious booking in the future. I don’t get it.
“Mighty Mo”Siliga (3-1 in Bellator), the 43-year-old kickboxing veteran who’s had an unexpected resurgence in Bellator since last year. Mo ended his first three fights in the promotion by stoppage — and proved he had some grappling skills too — but got knocked out by an Alexander Volkov head kick during the Season 10 heavyweight tournament semi-finals in April. Despite his age, Mo has always been a reliably entertaining presence and you’d think the new regime would want to keep him around.
Bryan Baker (8-4 in Bellator), a five-year veteran of the promotion who competed in four tournaments, reaching the Season 2 middleweight finals and Season 6 welterweight finals. Along the way, Baker defeated the likes of Ben Saunders, Joe Riggs, and Jeremy Horn. Baker lost his last two fights and hasn’t competed since February 2013.
For such a respectful, soft-spoken guy, Bellator President Scott Coker has absolutely no problem firing dudes by the dozen. In June, he slashed 19 jobs just a week after joining the organization. And now, 13 more Bellator fighters have been released, as MMAFighting confirmed yesterday evening. Here they are, in order of most surprising to least surprising…
Attila Vegh (5-1 in Bellator), who won the 2012 light heavyweight tournament, then became Bellator’s 205-pound champion with a decision win over Christian M’Pumbu in February 2013. In March of this year, he lost his title in a rematch against Emanuel Newton; Vegh and Newton now hold split-decision victories over each other. Vegh’s dismissal is kind of inexplicable. He’s one of the best light-heavyweights Bellator had under contract, and a rubber-match against Newton seemed like an obvious booking in the future. I don’t get it.
“Mighty Mo”Siliga (3-1 in Bellator), the 43-year-old kickboxing veteran who’s had an unexpected resurgence in Bellator since last year. Mo ended his first three fights in the promotion by stoppage — and proved he had some grappling skills too — but got knocked out by an Alexander Volkov head kick during the Season 10 heavyweight tournament semi-finals in April. Despite his age, Mo has always been a reliably entertaining presence and you’d think the new regime would want to keep him around.
Bryan Baker (8-4 in Bellator), a five-year veteran of the promotion who competed in four tournaments, reaching the Season 2 middleweight finals and Season 6 welterweight finals. Along the way, Baker defeated the likes of Ben Saunders, Joe Riggs, and Jeremy Horn. Baker lost his last two fights and hasn’t competed since February 2013.
Shahbulat Shamhalaev (3-2 in Bellator), won the Season 7 featherweight tournament with three consecutive KO/TKOs, then suffered back-to-back first-round stoppage losses to Pat Curran and Fabricio Guerreiro.
Desmond Green (3-2 in Bellator), a finalist in the Season 10 featherweight tournament who came up short against Daniel Weichel, losing by rear-naked choke at Bellator 119 in May.
Egidijus Valavicius (2-1 in Bellator), a Lithuanian journeyman who was a semi-finalist in the Season 10 light-heavyweight tournament.
Justin Torrey (2-1 in Bellator), who was knocked out of the Season 9 middleweight tournament quarterfinals by Brennan Ward last September.
Rodney “Sho Nuff the Master” Wallace (1-1 in Bellator), the light-heavyweight UFC vet who lost a decision to Kelly Anundson in the 2014 Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament quarterfinals in June.
Luis Sergio Melo Jr., aka Sergio Junior (1-1 in Bellator), who lost a decision to Ron Keslar at the Season 9 welterweight tournament quarterfinals last September.
Ron Sparks (3-3 Bellator), a heavyweight slugger who kicked off his Bellator stint with three straight first-round stoppages, then lost three straight fights in the first round — enough to earn his release fair and square.
Patrick Cenoble (0-1-1 Bellator), a lightweight who fought to a draw against Tony Fryklund before being outpointed by Terry Etim last November. Cenoble handled himself well against solid competition, but his lack of victories made him expendable.
Austen “Corndog” Heidlage (0-1 Bellator). Never heard of him, and I have to assume that his presence on the Bellator roster was the result of some clerical error.
Gina Carano‘s return to MMA looks inevitable at this point. There have been rumors of the former EliteXC and Strikeforce product coming back into the fold in a big way, but the striker has yet to sign a deal. The initial rumblings began with the UFC. It appeared that the UFC was going to ink […]
Gina Carano‘s return to MMA looks inevitable at this point. There have been rumors of the former EliteXC and Strikeforce product coming back into the fold in a big way, but the striker has yet to sign a deal. The initial rumblings began with the UFC. It appeared that the UFC was going to ink […]
Gina Carano’s return to MMA looks inevitable at this point. There have been rumors of the former EliteXC and Strikeforce product coming back into the fold in a big way, but the striker has yet to sign a deal.
The initial rumblings began with the UFC. I…
Gina Carano‘s return to MMA looks inevitable at this point. There have been rumors of the former EliteXC and Strikeforce product coming back into the fold in a big way, but the striker has yet to sign a deal.
The initial rumblings began with the UFC. It appeared that the UFC was going to ink a deal with Carano to battle Ronda Rousey. President Dana White was repeatedly asked about this in media scrums until talks died down in recent weeks.
The rumors proved false—for now—but made it an interesting question: Who should Carano sign with? According to MMAFighting.com, White seems to think the UFC is close to signing a deal.
Do not be too quick to say the UFC, though. Sure, it is the largest platform for Carano to return to, but Bellator offers its own unique advantages. It all comes down to what Carano wants.
Bellator and Viacom, its parent company, can offer Carano a hefty payday—likely more than she would make under the UFC banner. That can be enticing, and with the recent commitment to sign the likes of MarloesCoenen and Julia Budd, there will be a couple decent fighters for her to tangle with.
The No. 2 promotion in the game would allow Carano to stay at a weight she is more accustomed to. Sure, there is no depth at 145 pounds, but Bellator would not need depth. Carano would be a showcase fighter, someone to promote heavily as an attraction.
The organization can use her drawing power to bring more eyes to the product, and Carano can get hand-picked opponents who will challenge her but not be too big of a threat.
The UFC does not offer that. It offers an immediate fight with the No. 1 pound-for-pound female fighter in the world and at a weight Carano has trouble making.
As a personality who has made the transition to acting, there may be some concern about what a decisive loss to Rousey would do to her marketability as an actress. Rousey has torn through her opposition to date, and the 7-1 Carano does not offer much resistance on paper—although we have no clue as to if Carano has been improving since her time away from the sport.
There is little question that a Rousey vs. Carano fight would draw big numbers. It is the largest platform for Carano to return to. But what comes next?
If Carano were to win, she would be the champion. She would get a monstrous boost and have to defend the strap. Is that something she is looking for? A full-time fighting gig? Bellator would be able to offer her a better schedule with more money.
It is easy to pick the UFC; it’s the top company in the world. But the decision for Carano has to come down to what works best for her. What does she hope to accomplish with her return to MMA?
If she wants to compete against the best in the biggest marquee fights, then she needs to sign with the UFC. But if Carano wants to collect a hefty paycheck while maintaining her current Hollywood schedule, then Bellator would be the better option.
It is not an easy decision.
It seems apparent that the other shoe will drop soon for Carano. Neither the UFC nor Bellator will keep waiting for an answer. One of the two companies seems poised to make a huge splash with her signing in the next month or two.
Who will it be, and where do you think Carano should sign?
The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 finalist 
