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King Mo Lawal’s Dual Bellator/TNA Signing Is a Landmark Deal

If you’ve been hiding under a rock on this fine Thursday morning, you likely missed this news (which I received via email bright and early this morning):
WHAT: Media Conference Call hosted by Spike TV to announce major talent deal involving Bellator Fi…

If you’ve been hiding under a rock on this fine Thursday morning, you likely missed this news (which I received via email bright and early this morning):

WHAT: Media Conference Call hosted by Spike TV to announce major talent deal involving Bellator Fighting Championships and TNA Wrestling

WHO: Kevin Kay, President Spike TV
Bjorn Rebney, Chairman and CEO, Bellator Fighting Championships
Dixie Carter, President, TNA Entertainment

WHEN: Thursday, May 10 at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT

What could Bellator and TNA Wrestling—both of whom are owned by media giant Viacom—possibly be announcing during a joint conference call?

No, we’re not going to find out that Kurt Angle has finally, for real this time, decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts after five years of coming up with amazing excuses as to why he couldn’t actually do it.

The story is this: Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal has signed a dual contract with Bellator and TNA.

Lawal’s deal with Viacom was actually signed three weeks ago, but Zuffa retained matching rights to any new contract offers Lawal received despite firing him.

What does this news mean? How does it impact mixed martial artists going forward?

In truth, this deal won’t have much of a lasting impact on MMA. The number of legitimate mixed martial artists who want to try their hand at pro wrestling is very small. Lawal was a huge fan of professional wrestling growing up and always wanted to try his hand at the pseudo-sport, but there was never any chance of that happening while under contract to Zuffa.

With Bellator, things are different. They’re both under the same corporate umbrella, which means there’s an opportunity for cross-promotion. The UFC was also under that same corporate umbrella, at least in terms of television deals, but Dana White makes it a personal point not to have his product confused with pro wrestling.

Bjorn Rebney has no such qualms. In fact, I’d say that he’s welcoming those confusions, at least judging from this news. It’s a smart move for Bellator. They need all the exposure they can get, and if TNA and their meager 1.2-1.6 million viewers each week can help them get the eyeballs they need, then more power to them.

Lawal cannot fight until the fall due to his drug failure suspension from earlier this year, so expect to see plenty of him in a pro-wrestling ring this summer.

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Eddie Alvarez and 5 Other Bellator Fighters Who Should Be in the UFC

With Bellator Middleweight champion Hector Lombard having jumped ship to the UFC and seemingly only one win away from a UFC title shot, Bellator is now being looked at for more talent who could make it in the big show.Hot on the heels of Lombard in mov…

Hot on the heels of Lombard in moving over is former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez, who was spotted sitting next to Dana White during UFC on FOX 3: Diaz vs Miller. Alvarez’ Bellator contract is seemingly expired, and he looks very likely to be announced in the not-so-distant future with a fight with Anthony Pettis apparently in the works.

Alvarez has a 23-3 record (with 20 stoppage wins) with wins over guys like Shinya Aoki, Pat Curran and Roger Huerta. Eddie has been considered for a long time to be among the top 10 lightweights in the world.

So with Bellator finally being recognised for their talent pool, it is only a matter of time before more of their stars make the transition to the UFC.

Here are my top five Bellator stars who should be next.

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Hippies Rejoice: Vermont Becomes 46th State to Regulate Mixed Martial Arts

“Whoooooaaaa…says here this thing is a ‘Rousimar Palhares’. We’re already legally dead.”

Yesterday, while you were making terrible Star Wars jokes and/or mourning the death of MCA, lawmakers in “The Green Mountain State” were busy passing a bill to regulate the sport of mixed martial arts. Vermont is now the 46th state in the United States to regulate our sport.

My initial reaction to this news was probably the same as yours: “That’s nice.” Our second reactions were probably also pretty similiar: Damn, New York. You let the state known for its organic-granola crunching, Birkenstock wearing hippies regulate MMA before you did. Get your shit together. For real this time.

Granted, everything I know about Vermont I’ve learned from pints of Ben & Jerry’s. So let’s read the press release that the UFC issued:

“Vermont’s legislation of the sport of MMA is further evidence of the continued growth and success of our sport in this country,” said UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. “We are pleased that fans in Vermont will now have the opportunity to watch a live UFC event in their own backyard, and look forward to making that happen.”

“Whoooooaaaa…says here this thing is a ‘Rousimar Palhares‘. We’re already legally dead.”

My initial reaction to this news was probably the same as yours: Vermont isn’t exactly the biggest state in the union, but it’s always great to see a state start regulating MMA. Our second reactions were probably also pretty similiar: Damn, New York. You let the state known for its organic-granola crunching, Birkenstock wearing hippies regulate MMA before you did. Get your shit together. For real this time.

Granted, everything I know about Vermont I’ve learned from pints of Ben & Jerry’s. So let’s read the press release that the UFC issued:

You have to appreciate the optimism, but where exactly will a live UFC event be held in the state of Vermont? Vermont’s most prestigious professional sports team is a Single A baseball team called the Vermont Lake Monsters. Vermont’s biggest stadium, Centennial Field, holds 5,000 people. It’s largest indoor arena, Gutterson Fieldhouse, barely holds 4,000 people. Even the smallest, least interesting UFC cards should expect more than 4,000 people.

I’m personally thinking that Bellator is far more likely to visit Vermont before the UFC does, but I’ve been wrong before.

Of the 48 states with the necessary regulatory bodies to oversee mixed martial arts (I’m not surprised, Alaska and Montana, but I am still very disappointed), only New York and Connecticut do not currently regulate MMA. You’re back on the clock, New York. Try not to screw up this time.

Japanese Legend Akihiro Gono Announces His Retirement from MMA

At the post-fight press conference following his quick TKO loss to Michael Chandler, Japanese star fighter Akihiro “DJ GOZMA” Gono announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.One of the main reasons I was so pumped for the Bellator 67 show last ni…

At the post-fight press conference following his quick TKO loss to Michael Chandler, Japanese star fighter Akihiro “DJ GOZMA” Gono announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.

One of the main reasons I was so pumped for the Bellator 67 show last night was a chance to see one of my favorite fighters of all time, Akihiro Gono, fight on Canadian soil for the first and possibly last time in his storied career.

The 37-year-old Japanese star and mixed martial arts pioneer has given fans some of the most entertaining and colorful performances with his early fights in the Shooto, Pancrase and Pride organizations of Japan.

Despite Gono’s pre-fight claims that an upset may be in order, he lost to Chandler quickly and without a fuss, but it was his emotional post-fight press conference announcement and what followed that really stole the show on the evening for me.

After Gono announced through an interpreter that it would indeed be the last MMA fight of his career, his emotions came rushing out and tears streamed down his face as he looked to the sky to try and stop the momentum of his tears.

I was lucky to get the microphone for the first question of the night and I told Gono that despite his fight tonight, the Canadian fans know exactly who he is and what he is about and it was an honor to see him fight in our home country.

The tears continued and after another comment and verbal tribute from Sportsnet analyst Joe Ferraro, the entire press conference room rose in a tremendous standing ovation for Gono. The Japanese legend raised from his seat and bowed his appreciation as tears flowed to the carpet.

It was a classy move by the fans and media in the room and a well-deserved tribute for “The Japanese Sensation.”

Thanks for giving us your career, Gono-san. Domo arigato

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.

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Bellator 67 Results: Ford, Baker and Chandler Highlight a Stellar Show at Rama

Bellator 67 took place tonight from a packed Entertainment Hall inside the beautiful Casino Rama and saw the fighters deliver an exceptional night of fights for the Ontario fans.The night tipped off with the highly anticipated …

Bellator 67 took place tonight from a packed Entertainment Hall inside the beautiful Casino Rama and saw the fighters deliver an exceptional night of fights for the Ontario fans.

The night tipped off with the highly anticipated Bellator debut of Canadian Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford taking on tough Bellator veteran Luis Santos. The first round saw Ford come out and feel out his opponent which gave Santos some space to land a solid head kick midway through the round. The kick hurt Ford and he went down before Santos jumped to take his back.

Ford stayed calm and composed and kept himself tight in his defense while Santos tried to find the opening to sink in a choke. The opening did not appear and Ford was able to recover and escape the round. The second saw Ford come out with a new aggression and he locked up Santos as the two backed up to the cage.

A clinch on the cage ensued and Ford was able to get position to open up his brutal knee strikes on Santos. The first one landed to the body and the second one landed flush on Santos’ jaw dropping the veteran to the floor. Ford pounced with a flurry and ended the fight via TKO early in the second round.

It was an impressive debut for Ford in front of a large entourage of family and friends who came in from Edmonton to support him. Ford can now expect to get a spot in the next welterweight tournament and make his run at a Bellator title from there.

There was a huge semifinal fight in this season’s welterweight tournament on the card and classy Bryan Baker was able to out-battle and outlast Ben Saunders in a very exciting fight.

Saunders used some solid knees early and had Baker in what looked to be a very tight triangle in the round, as well. Baker calmly defended and forced Saunders to give up on the hold as fatigue set in to end the round.

The second round saw a reversal of fortunes for Baker as he got top position on Saunders and rained down pressure for the majority of the round. I had the fight deadlocked going in to the third round and it was anyone’s fight to take with a win of the round.

Baker was the stronger, fresher fighter and he quickly got top position on Saunders again early where he rode that control to the win to move to the tournament final. Baker is a classy, impressive individual who is two years in remission after being diagnosed with leukemia a few years ago.

In the main event of the evening, lightweight champion Michael Chandler made extremely quick work of featured opponent Akihiro Gono, landing a right hand in the very first exchange and getting a TKO victory at 0:56 of the first round.

In the other main-card fight on the night, Polish heavyweight Damian Grabowski stole a controversial decision win over a tough and humble Dave Huckaba. I felt Huckaba was the busier fighter, and did more damage with his shots, but the judges saw it differently and chose Grabowski’s takedowns and top control in the decision.

The night of fights was a very good one with the Belllator fighters bouncing back from a disappointing card in Windsor just last month. It is Bellator’s third show at Rama and fourth in Ontario in a year and here’s hoping the trend continues and we see them back in Ontario sooner rather than later.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator 67 Chandler vs Gono: Live Results

Bleacher Report is set up cage side at Bellator 67 at Casino Rama in Ontario to bring you live results as they happen.Live Results:Preliminary Card 7:00pmRead more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bleacher Report is set up cage side at Bellator 67 at Casino Rama in Ontario to bring you live results as they happen.

Live Results:

Preliminary Card 7:00pm

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