Tag: Bellator

Seth Petruzelli Retires Following Bellator 96 Knockout Loss to King Mo Lawal

Seth Petruzelli’s pro mixed martial arts career began on August 26, 2000 in Jacksonville, about four hours from his hometown of Coral Springs. It ended in Thackerville, Okla. on Wednesday night after a stunning knockout loss to “King” Mo Lawal in the m…

Seth Petruzelli‘s pro mixed martial arts career began on August 26, 2000 in Jacksonville, about four hours from his hometown of Coral Springs. It ended in Thackerville, Okla. on Wednesday night after a stunning knockout loss to “King” Mo Lawal in the main event of Bellator 96.

Petruzelli made the announcement on Friday morning via his official Facebook page: 

I want to thank my family, friends, fiance and fans for being by my side these past 13 years plus of my MMA career. Every time I fought it was to please and excite you but most of all make you proud of me.

Up until a couple years ago it pleased and excited me as well. That is where I went wrong, for the past couple years I have been fighting for the wrong reasons, I don’t have the desire or drive to fight like I used to and the past couple fights have shown it.

So at this point in my life I would like to officially announce my retirement from the sport of MMA.

Competing has been a part of my life since I was 6 years old, now I would like to put more of an effort into seeing my students/fighters do the same and making my gym grow and flourish.

MMA has taken me around the world, let me meet the best and worst of people and made me feel like the brightest star but also like a black hole at times … and I have no regrets because I did it all my way.

The highest point of Petruzelli‘s fighting career, or at least the one he’ll forever be known for, came on October 4, 2008. That’s the night Petruzelli, stepping in on short notice for the injured Ken Shamrock, defeated Kimbo Slice in what was billed as one of the most shocking moments in MMA history. In reality, Petruzelli was a heavy favorite over Slice the moment he accepted the fight, and his win was the likely outcome. 

Still, it made for good television. And it helped Petruzelli keep his name floating around the MMA world. After two more victories, Petruzelli re-signed with the UFC, but two consecutive losses to Ricardo Romero and Karlos Vemola meant another pink slip.

Petruzelli went 2-4 in his last six fights. He is currently studying to receive a psychology degree at the University of Central Florida just outside Orlando.  

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Seth Petruzelli Retires Following Bellator 96 Knockout Loss to King Mo Lawal

Seth Petruzelli’s pro mixed martial arts career began on August 26, 2000 in Jacksonville, about four hours from his hometown of Coral Springs. It ended in Thackerville, Okla. on Wednesday night after a stunning knockout loss to “King” Mo Lawal in the m…

Seth Petruzelli‘s pro mixed martial arts career began on August 26, 2000 in Jacksonville, about four hours from his hometown of Coral Springs. It ended in Thackerville, Okla. on Wednesday night after a stunning knockout loss to “King” Mo Lawal in the main event of Bellator 96.

Petruzelli made the announcement on Friday morning via his official Facebook page: 

I want to thank my family, friends, fiance and fans for being by my side these past 13 years plus of my MMA career. Every time I fought it was to please and excite you but most of all make you proud of me.

Up until a couple years ago it pleased and excited me as well. That is where I went wrong, for the past couple years I have been fighting for the wrong reasons, I don’t have the desire or drive to fight like I used to and the past couple fights have shown it.

So at this point in my life I would like to officially announce my retirement from the sport of MMA.

Competing has been a part of my life since I was 6 years old, now I would like to put more of an effort into seeing my students/fighters do the same and making my gym grow and flourish.

MMA has taken me around the world, let me meet the best and worst of people and made me feel like the brightest star but also like a black hole at times … and I have no regrets because I did it all my way.

The highest point of Petruzelli‘s fighting career, or at least the one he’ll forever be known for, came on October 4, 2008. That’s the night Petruzelli, stepping in on short notice for the injured Ken Shamrock, defeated Kimbo Slice in what was billed as one of the most shocking moments in MMA history. In reality, Petruzelli was a heavy favorite over Slice the moment he accepted the fight, and his win was the likely outcome. 

Still, it made for good television. And it helped Petruzelli keep his name floating around the MMA world. After two more victories, Petruzelli re-signed with the UFC, but two consecutive losses to Ricardo Romero and Karlos Vemola meant another pink slip.

Petruzelli went 2-4 in his last six fights. He is currently studying to receive a psychology degree at the University of Central Florida just outside Orlando.  

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Seth Petruzelli Retires Following Bellator 96 Knockout Loss to King Mo Lawal

Seth Petruzelli’s pro mixed martial arts career began on August 26, 2000 in Jacksonville, about four hours from his hometown of Coral Springs. It ended in Thackerville, Okla. on Wednesday night after a stunning knockout loss to “King” Mo Lawal in the m…

Seth Petruzelli‘s pro mixed martial arts career began on August 26, 2000 in Jacksonville, about four hours from his hometown of Coral Springs. It ended in Thackerville, Okla. on Wednesday night after a stunning knockout loss to “King” Mo Lawal in the main event of Bellator 96.

Petruzelli made the announcement on Friday morning via his official Facebook page: 

I want to thank my family, friends, fiance and fans for being by my side these past 13 years plus of my MMA career. Every time I fought it was to please and excite you but most of all make you proud of me.

Up until a couple years ago it pleased and excited me as well. That is where I went wrong, for the past couple years I have been fighting for the wrong reasons, I don’t have the desire or drive to fight like I used to and the past couple fights have shown it.

So at this point in my life I would like to officially announce my retirement from the sport of MMA.

Competing has been a part of my life since I was 6 years old, now I would like to put more of an effort into seeing my students/fighters do the same and making my gym grow and flourish.

MMA has taken me around the world, let me meet the best and worst of people and made me feel like the brightest star but also like a black hole at times … and I have no regrets because I did it all my way.

The highest point of Petruzelli‘s fighting career, or at least the one he’ll forever be known for, came on October 4, 2008. That’s the night Petruzelli, stepping in on short notice for the injured Ken Shamrock, defeated Kimbo Slice in what was billed as one of the most shocking moments in MMA history. In reality, Petruzelli was a heavy favorite over Slice the moment he accepted the fight, and his win was the likely outcome. 

Still, it made for good television. And it helped Petruzelli keep his name floating around the MMA world. After two more victories, Petruzelli re-signed with the UFC, but two consecutive losses to Ricardo Romero and Karlos Vemola meant another pink slip.

Petruzelli went 2-4 in his last six fights. He is currently studying to receive a psychology degree at the University of Central Florida just outside Orlando.  

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator’s Bjorn Rebney Weighs in On Roy Nelson to Bellator Talk

A few weeks back, I posited that there was zero chance the UFC would allow Roy Nelson to leave the fold and sign with rival Bellator.Let me say for the record that when I call Bellator a “rival” of the UFC, I’m doing so out of the kindness of my own he…

A few weeks back, I posited that there was zero chance the UFC would allow Roy Nelson to leave the fold and sign with rival Bellator.

Let me say for the record that when I call Bellator a “rival” of the UFC, I’m doing so out of the kindness of my own heart. The two promotions are no more rivals than the NFL and the Canadian Football League are rivals.

One of them pulls in big pay-per-view buyrates and massive television ratings on Fox; the other barely outdrew Fuel TV in its last show, despite Spike TV being available in 60 million more homes than Fuel. Both of them are involved in the same general sport, but that’s where the similarities begin and end.

Here’s what I said back then, before Nelson went into UFC 161 and put on one of the most underwhelming performances of his career against the suddenly revelatory Stipe Miocic: 

Some have pointed to White’s comments, and the fact that Nelson is going into the final fight of his contract at UFC 161, as a reason the UFC president might cut “Big Country” loose even if he wins.

And I’m here to tell you right now: Despite the things that White says about Nelson in public, and despite his distaste for Nelson’s body type, there’s simply no chance that Nelson will be cut or released or not signed to a new contract after his fight with StipeMiocic, even if he loses.

Nelson is now a free agent, though he doesn’t have quite the negotiating power he thought he’d have after Miocic pounded him from pillar to post. He’s not free to sign with any organizations outside the UFC just yet because he’s under a standard negotiating period that gives Zuffa the exclusive right to negotiate with Nelson.

Bellator’s Bjorn Rebney knows a thing or two about negotiation periods and matching offers. He’s currently engaged in a nasty court battle with Eddie Alvarez over just such a thing. 

But is Rebney interested in the “Big Country” business? It sure seems that way, according to what Rebney told The MMA Corner:

Most people that are MMA fans are Roy Nelson fans. ‘Big Country’ is a great personality. He’s also a hugely talented heavyweight. So, you know, we’ll see. I think he’s contractually got time left on his negotiation period with the UFC, so I can’t really dive into the Roy Nelson pool at this point. He’s a talented fighter, one of the top five or six heavyweights in the UFC, great personality, people love watching him, the ratings go through the roof when he’s on cable TV. He’s a talented fighter. I like watching him and I’ve paid to see him fight before, so yeah, sure.

This is one of those times when it would be silly for Rebney to play coy. I know it’s a typical negotiation tactic to drive down the price of the asset you’re trying to sign, but Rebney should do everything in his power to build Nelson up in every single interview. He should talk about his crushing knockout wins and not the losses against Miocic or Junior dos Santos.

Because here’s the truth, and I know Rebney believes this: Roy Nelson is a big star on the UFC roster, which means he’d be the biggest star on the Bellator roster.

Nelson and Rampage Jackson are far and away the biggest available names for Bellator, and it’s not even close. Kudos to Bellator for building up some exciting talent over the years, but none of them have the Q Scores of Nelson or Jackson.

That’s why it’s a no-brainer for Rebney to sign Nelson, if he’s given the opportunity. He told media in the past that he wouldn’t sign UFC castoffs, which sounded like a good idea at the time. But then he signed UFC castoff Rampage Jackson, so that’s out the window.

He’s free to pick up whomever he wants from the top of the UFC scrap heap, and nobody’s going to say boo about it. 

Nelson might be just what Bellator needs. Because God only knows that after the horrendous ratings pulled by Bellator 96—and the debut of Viacom’s new The Ultimate Fighter meets The Voice reality show, Fight Master—Viacom won’t be happy with Bellator trotting out the same nameless, faceless athletes week in and week out. 

Bellator needs stars, and Nelson is one. And while I still think Nelson will stay with the UFC for the long term, Rebney needs to make a full-court press to sign him while he still can.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator Ratings Drop Dramatically, Spike TV Officials Expect Turn Around

Bellator debuted its summer series of fights on Wednesday night, capped off by “King” Mo Lawal’s knockout over Seth Petruzelli before the new reality show Fight Master: Bellator MMA also kicked off on Spike TV. This was the first night Bellator moved f…

Bellator debuted its summer series of fights on Wednesday night, capped off by “King” Mo Lawal’s knockout over Seth Petruzelli before the new reality show Fight Master: Bellator MMA also kicked off on Spike TV.

This was the first night Bellator moved from Thursdays to Wednesdays since debuting on the cable network earlier this year.

On Thursday, the ratings for the live show and the reality show were released, and the numbers dipped dramatically from previous airings during the first half of 2013.

According to the ratings released by the Nielsen ratings system and confirmed by Spike TV officials when speaking to Bleacher Report on Thursday, Bellator 96 averaged 480,000 viewers over the two-hour-long broadcast.

Meanwhile, Fight Master: Bellator MMA, which featured prominent coaches such as Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock and Greg Jackson on the show, debuted with 432,000 average viewers over the 60-minute broadcast.

To put this into perspective, the last Bellator show that aired on Spike TV back in April pulled in an average of 901,000 viewers when Pat Curran defended his featherweight title in the main event.  The show peaked with over one million viewers during the broadcast as well.

The entire season for Bellator, which stretched from January to April, averaged just around 800,000 viewers per episode.

Bellator did have some tough competition on Wednesday night as the NHL Stanley Cup game between the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks drew 6.64 million viewers when it aired starting at 8 p.m. EDT.  Bellator 96 kicked off at the same time, and the new reality show was still airing while the game was ongoing.

Spike TV officials noted when speaking to Bleacher Report that the viewer demographics for hockey and MMA are virtually the same, so they expected a dropoff with the highly anticipated NHL game airing the same night.  It wouldn’t have gotten any easier on Thursday, with Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs airing on ABC.

“We feel that a few hundred thousand people went over to watch one of the best hockey games you’d ever seen,” David Schwarz, senior vice president of communications for Spike TV told Bleacher Report on Thursday.  “We are disappointed, but we feel like people will find the show and like all reality shows it might take a few nights.”

The change in nights for Bellator also saw the promotion lose its lead-in feature with TNA wrestling.  The pro wrestling show was showcased prior to Bellator broadcasts on Thursday nights, but now by airing the fights on Wednesdays, Bellator is going at it alone for the first time.

Schwarz said that while the numbers were definitely down, Spike TV is also aware that it takes time to grow a product and allow viewers time to find it on a new night.  The reality show is in the same boat and they expect growth as more and more people discover the program.

The key, according to Schwarz, is putting the best quality programming on the network possible and he believes the viewers will follow.

“The product is good,” Schwarz said. “That’s what’s most important.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator Ratings Drop Dramatically, Spike TV Officials Expect Turn Around

Bellator debuted its summer series of fights on Wednesday night, capped off by “King” Mo Lawal’s knockout over Seth Petruzelli before the new reality show Fight Master: Bellator MMA also kicked off on Spike TV. This was the first night Bellator moved f…

Bellator debuted its summer series of fights on Wednesday night, capped off by “King” Mo Lawal’s knockout over Seth Petruzelli before the new reality show Fight Master: Bellator MMA also kicked off on Spike TV.

This was the first night Bellator moved from Thursdays to Wednesdays since debuting on the cable network earlier this year.

On Thursday, the ratings for the live show and the reality show were released, and the numbers dipped dramatically from previous airings during the first half of 2013.

According to the ratings released by the Nielsen ratings system and confirmed by Spike TV officials when speaking to Bleacher Report on Thursday, Bellator 96 averaged 480,000 viewers over the two-hour-long broadcast.

Meanwhile, Fight Master: Bellator MMA, which featured prominent coaches such as Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock and Greg Jackson on the show, debuted with 432,000 average viewers over the 60-minute broadcast.

To put this into perspective, the last Bellator show that aired on Spike TV back in April pulled in an average of 901,000 viewers when Pat Curran defended his featherweight title in the main event.  The show peaked with over one million viewers during the broadcast as well.

The entire season for Bellator, which stretched from January to April, averaged just around 800,000 viewers per episode.

Bellator did have some tough competition on Wednesday night as the NHL Stanley Cup game between the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks drew 6.64 million viewers when it aired starting at 8 p.m. EDT.  Bellator 96 kicked off at the same time, and the new reality show was still airing while the game was ongoing.

Spike TV officials noted when speaking to Bleacher Report that the viewer demographics for hockey and MMA are virtually the same, so they expected a dropoff with the highly anticipated NHL game airing the same night.  It wouldn’t have gotten any easier on Thursday, with Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs airing on ABC.

“We feel that a few hundred thousand people went over to watch one of the best hockey games you’d ever seen,” David Schwarz, senior vice president of communications for Spike TV told Bleacher Report on Thursday.  “We are disappointed, but we feel like people will find the show and like all reality shows it might take a few nights.”

The change in nights for Bellator also saw the promotion lose its lead-in feature with TNA wrestling.  The pro wrestling show was showcased prior to Bellator broadcasts on Thursday nights, but now by airing the fights on Wednesdays, Bellator is going at it alone for the first time.

Schwarz said that while the numbers were definitely down, Spike TV is also aware that it takes time to grow a product and allow viewers time to find it on a new night.  The reality show is in the same boat and they expect growth as more and more people discover the program.

The key, according to Schwarz, is putting the best quality programming on the network possible and he believes the viewers will follow.

“The product is good,” Schwarz said. “That’s what’s most important.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com