Tag: Bellator

Ben Askren Release: Why the UFC Shouldn’t Sign Former Bellator Champ…yet

It seemed like the writing was on the wall when Bjorn Rebney was allowing Ben Askren to entertain offers from the UFC. Now it’s official: Ben Askren has been released. The Bellator welterweight champ gets his walking papers after his contract expired and Rebney made it known he’d let him walk. With that, likely one […]

It seemed like the writing was on the wall when Bjorn Rebney was allowing Ben Askren to entertain offers from the UFC. Now it’s official: Ben Askren has been released. The Bellator welterweight champ gets his walking papers after his contract expired and Rebney made it known he’d let him walk. With that, likely one […]

Related Posts:

Ben Askren *Released* by Bellator (!) For Being “A Completely One-Dimensional, Utterly Dominant Fighter”


(Bjorn Rebney: Putting the “backhand” in “backhanded compliment” since 2008.)

You gotta love the Bellator business model, Nation. Two aging, injury-prone UFC stars who are 3-7 in their past 10 combined? BUILD A PPV AROUND THEM, DAMMIT. A longstanding (albeit incredibly boring) champion who has dominated every last opponent placed before him? LET HIM SPREAD HIS WINGS AND FLY, DAMMIT.

And so goes the Bellator career of welterweight champion Ben Askren, who was released into the murky waters of unrestricted free agency earlier today. A press release sent out this morning has the details:

Ben Askren is now an unrestricted free agent after Bellator released the undefeated welterweight. The Bellator Welterweight World Title will be vacant until Douglas Lima faces the winner of the Season 9 Welterweight Tournament later this winter when the new Bellator Welterweight Champion will be crowned.

“I’ve said it many times, Ben’s a completely one-dimensional fighter who is utterly dominant in that dimension,” (Ed note: BUUUUUURRRRNNNN?!) Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “I had a number of discussions with Ben and it became clear it was time for both parties to move in different directions. We’ve relinquished any right to match here and Ben can sign with whoever he chooses to sign with. Ben’s been at Bellator since the start of his career, I respect him and what he’s accomplished and wish him the best wherever he goes.”


(Bjorn Rebney: Putting the “backhand” in “backhanded compliment” since 2008.)

You gotta love the Bellator business model, Nation. Two aging, injury-prone UFC stars who are 3-7 in their past 10 combined? BUILD A PPV AROUND THEM, DAMMIT. A longstanding (albeit incredibly boring) champion who has dominated every last opponent placed before him? LET HIM SPREAD HIS WINGS AND FLY, DAMMIT.

And so goes the Bellator career of welterweight champion Ben Askren, who was released into the murky waters of unrestricted free agency earlier today. A press release sent out this morning has the details:

Ben Askren is now an unrestricted free agent after Bellator released the undefeated welterweight. The Bellator Welterweight World Title will be vacant until Douglas Lima faces the winner of the Season 9 Welterweight Tournament later this winter when the new Bellator Welterweight Champion will be crowned.

“I’ve said it many times, Ben’s a completely one-dimensional fighter who is utterly dominant in that dimension,” (Ed note: BUUUUUURRRRNNNN?!) Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “I had a number of discussions with Ben and it became clear it was time for both parties to move in different directions. We’ve relinquished any right to match here and Ben can sign with whoever he chooses to sign with. Ben’s been at Bellator since the start of his career, I respect him and what he’s accomplished and wish him the best wherever he goes.”

In all seriousness, it’s not *that* difficult to follow Bjorn’s line of logic here. For the past three years, Bellator’s welterweight division has been stuck in a state of purgatory, so to speak, hopelessly cycling between fighters that stood no chance of defeating their increasingly hard-to-watch champion. Bjorn & Co. have been hinting at Askren’s possible release for a little while now, and while we originally thought it was just an attempt to draw the UFC into a bidding war, it seems that, for once, Bellator has mutually ended a relationship with one of its fighters.

We will keep you updated as to any offers the UFC makes Askren (if they make him an offer, that is) as the information becomes available.

–J. Jones

Bellator 108: Another Bellator Card Where Co-Main Event Tops Main Event

Credit Bellator MMA matchmaker Sam Caplan for finally getting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a debut fight against UFC veteran “The Mexicutioner” Joey Beltran at Bellator 108.
On top of a Bellator heavyweight title bout between champion Alexander Volkov and…

Credit Bellator MMA matchmaker Sam Caplan for finally getting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a debut fight against UFC veteran “The Mexicutioner” Joey Beltran at Bellator 108.

On top of a Bellator heavyweight title bout between champion Alexander Volkov and undefeated challenger Vitaly Minakov, as well as a featherweight tournament final between Patricio Freire and Justin Wilcox, the bout on paper promises to at least attract new heads to the Bellator brand of MMA.

After the loss of Bellator 106’s original headliner of Jackson vs. Tito Ortiz caused the would-be pay-per-view to become a free card with a Bellator lightweight title fight between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler at the top of the bill, though, doesn’t one think that Bellator needed to learn their lesson by now?

Adding former UFC talent may attract older fans to their cards, but in all honesty, they won’t see the “Rampage” of the Pride days against the Beltran who many felt held a good chance to contend for the UFC heavyweight title at the start of his UFC run. Instead, they will witness one UFC veteran and one MMA legend looking to reset themselves on the winning track. Of course, no one will dare to ask the “relevancy” question, as Beltran only recently lost to Fabio Maldonado, and Jackson will always remain relevant in MMA conversation due to his legendary battles.

Still, does the potential for a knockout really trump that of the heavyweight title fight?

Traditionally, non-title fights do not take precedence over title fights, regardless of potential entertainment value, especially on a billing which plans to host a heavyweight title fight. UFC 51, though, does hold regard as the most recent MMA card to host a non-title fight as the headliner, even with an interim heavyweight title fight on the card. So perhaps Bellator knows more about what it plans to do with “Rampage vs. Beltran” as the headliner than we do.

That notwithstanding, Volkov vs. Minakov should not fall by the wayside. Though it does not likely stand to play out like the Cain Velasquez-Junior dos Santos trilogy, it does hold all the potential to put on one of the more underrated heavyweight contests in recent memory. Both men carry their own reputations for finishing fights, and with Volkov’s rather lanky frame, it becomes a point of interest to see whether Minakov can keep Volkov from controlling the distance.

In short, it tops the current headliner because one undefeated prospect, challenging for a world title, and his opponent, a title-holding prospect, hold potential to demonstrate what the future promises for both Bellator and the sport of MMA, especially in the heavyweight ranks. Instead of promoting this, Bellator signed recently released UFC talent and longtime UFC veterans in an attempt to battle the competition.

At another time, that would work to perfection and divide the MMA world’s attention, but with Bellator, fans knew better from the minute they first viewed their product. They possess homegrown talent that some herald as the absolute best in the sport right now. Fans will not know what kind of good thing the sport has waiting for them in the future, though, unless promotions like Bellator begin to showcase those prospects now.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Exclusive Rampage Jackson Interview: MMA Legend Talks UFC, Bellator and Gaming

Those who have forgotten may soon remember why Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was a former UFC champion and one of the most feared light heavyweights in the world. In speaking Monday with Jackson in an exclusive interview, it was tough initially getting him to open up. Longtime fans of MMA know Jackson to be a fun, […]

Those who have forgotten may soon remember why Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was a former UFC champion and one of the most feared light heavyweights in the world. In speaking Monday with Jackson in an exclusive interview, it was tough initially getting him to open up. Longtime fans of MMA know Jackson to be a fun, […]

Related Posts:

Bellator 107 Recap: Cheick Kongo Wins in Typical Cheick Kongo Fashion, Joe Warren Scores TKO Over Travis Marx


(Photo via Bellator MMA)

Bellator 107 was a crucial show for Bellator. Over one million people were exposed to their product last week. Did they wow anyone who decided to tune in for a second week in a row?

Yes and no.

They made a poor decision in starting the card with a fight between virtually unknown fighter Derek Campos and disappointing British prospect Martin Stapleton. Any converts from the previous event likely switched channels after this fight started; it was that bad. The only notable part of this contest was when Stapleton’s knee almost went out (or at least that’s what it looked like) during a spinning backfist attempt, resulting in a crazy jig. Campos won via unanimous decision.

Fortunately, the second fight of the night picked up the pace a little bit. After a lackluster first round, the middleweight tournament final between Mikkel Parlo and Brennan Ward ended in fireworks. In what can only be described as “beast mode,” Ward battered Parlo’s body with sledgehammer-like punches (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA), and then started teeing off on Parlo’s head. Ward battered Parlo so badly that the fight was stopped while Parlo was still standing. It was one of the best displays of the pure violence inherent in MMA in recent memory.

Get the run down of the co-main and main event after the jump.


(Photo via Bellator MMA)

Bellator 107 was a crucial show for Bellator. Over one million people were exposed to their product last week. Did they wow anyone who decided to tune in for a second week in a row?

Yes and no.

They made a poor decision in starting the card with a fight between virtually unknown fighter Derek Campos and disappointing British prospect Martin Stapleton. Any converts from the previous event likely switched channels after this fight started; it was that bad. The only notable part of this contest was when Stapleton’s knee almost went out (or at least that’s what it looked like) during a spinning backfist attempt, resulting in a crazy jig. Campos won via unanimous decision.

Fortunately, the second fight of the night picked up the pace a little bit. After a lackluster first round, the middleweight tournament final between Mikkel Parlo and Brennan Ward ended in fireworks. In what can only be described as “beast mode,” Ward battered Parlo’s body with sledgehammer-like punches (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA), and then started teeing off on Parlo’s head. Ward battered Parlo so badly that the fight was stopped while Parlo was still standing. It was one of the best displays of the pure violence inherent in MMA in recent memory.

The bantamweight tournament final was the night’s co-main event. Joe Warren faced off against Travis Marx. After a first round that saw more grinding than a senior prom, Warren dropped Marx with a perfectly-timed knee and finished him off with punches.

Bellator 107′s main event and heavyweight tournament final pitted Cheick Kongo against Vinicius “Spartan” Queiroz’s replacement, Peter Graham. Kongo added a smattering of aggression into his usual “clinch against the cage indefinitely” strategy, but the fight still left a lot to be desired. Kongo won a unanimous decision victory.

Overall, the event was barely okay. The two poor fights bookended the two good fights. This meant viewers started off with a bad taste in their figurative mouths, and then left the card with the same taste. A card that left viewers feeling unsatisfied was the last thing Bellator needed the week after the biggest event in their history, and the week before their biggest star—Rampage Jackson—is fighting.

Here are the complete results for Bellator 107:

Main Card

Cheick Kongo def. Peter Graham via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joe Warren def. Travis Marx via TKO (knee and punches), 1:54 of Round 2
Brennan Ward def. Mikkel Parlo via TKO (punches), 1:39 of Round 2
Derek Campos def. Martin Stapleton via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Patricky Freire def. Edson Berto via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Jonas Billstein def. Cortez Coleman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mike Mucitelli def. Ryan McCurdy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Raphael Butler def. Josh Burns via verbal submission (punches), 2:14 of Round 1
Linton Vassell def. Matt Jones via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)

 

Bellator 107 Results: Cheick Kongo Beats Peter Graham, Wins Season 9 Tournament

Bellator has itself a new heavyweight title contender in French kickboxer Cheick Kongo following his unanimous-decision win over Peter Graham.  The bout saw Kongo handily take the first two rounds by plying his standard clinch-then-knee strategy to great effect. By the third round, Graham was visibly worn out and found himself battered thoroughly standing and […]

Bellator has itself a new heavyweight title contender in French kickboxer Cheick Kongo following his unanimous-decision win over Peter Graham.  The bout saw Kongo handily take the first two rounds by plying his standard clinch-then-knee strategy to great effect. By the third round, Graham was visibly worn out and found himself battered thoroughly standing and […]

Related Posts: