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UFC color commentator Joe Rogan said this week on his podcast that he hopes Bellator will turn into a full rival for the UFC. Rogan said he wishes Bellator would become the UFC’s full rival, much like PRIDE was over a decade ago, and he also adde…
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan said this week on his podcast that he hopes Bellator will turn into a full rival for the UFC. Rogan said he wishes Bellator would become the UFC’s full rival, much like PRIDE was over a decade ago, and he also added that he likes the fact MMA fighters have […]
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Rogan is hopeful that Bellator can turn into a full-fledged rival promotion.
The post Joe Rogan Expresses Desire For Bellator To Be ‘Full Rival’ Of UFC appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
Joe Rogan expresses desire to see Bellator turn into a rival for the UFC as everyone understands that competition is always for the best. The longtime UFC color commentator understands that when the UFC has a rival such as PRIDE or Strikeforce, it makes UFC President Dana White push the limits more than what he’s comfortable doing.
Thus, with Bellator MMA, which is spearheaded by President Scott Coker and owned by Viacom, he hopes that the promotion can turn into a full-fledged rival for the Las Vegas-based promotion.
During a recent edition of his MMA podcast that featured UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and his coach Duane Ludwig, Rogan stated that he hopes Bellator can grow into a legitimate head-to-head competitor with UFC.
“I like it,” Rogan said on today’s edition of the “JRE MMA Show” podcast (transcript courtesy of MMAJunkie). “I like that the fighters are having a good time over there. They get paid well. I want it to grow. I want it to be right up there with the UFC. I would love it if it was a full rival like PRIDE was.”
The intriguing part of Bellator MMA is that Coker is in charge of it and once it was revealed that he would take over as the boss of the promotion a few years ago, there was hope that Coker could build it into a competitor due to his history/success that he had with Strikeforce, which was later bought by Zuffa.
“I love Coker,” Rogan said. “I like what he’s doing. I’m somehow or another supposed to be in competition with Bellator. I say that’s horse(expletive). I’m the one who got Jimmy Smith hired (to UFC). I tried to get him hired years ago. I love the fact that ‘Big’ John (McCarthy) is over there now, and (Mike) ‘Goldie’ (Goldberg) is too. And Mauro (Ranallo), I love Mauro. They’ve got great fighters over there.
“I love that Rory MacDonald’s over there. He’s the champ. If he’s not the best welterweight in the world, it’s him and Tyron (Woodley). He’s most certainly one of the best. (Gegard) Mousasi is one go the best 185ers in the world, if not the best. They have legit claim to world-class fighters now in at least two weight classes.”
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Scott Coker had an interesting conversation with MacDonald
The post Scott Coker Reflects On Conversation That Convinced Him Rory MacDonald Was Nuts appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
Scott Coker reflects on an interesting conversation that he had with Bellator middleweight champion Rory MacDonald that just showed him a different side.
MacDonald became a big name while fighting inside of the Octagon under the UFC banner. Once he made the jump to the Viacom-owned promotion, he further showcased his skills. He won the Bellator welterweight title by scoring a unanimous decision win over Douglas Lima at Bellator 192 back in January.
This was a tough fight that saw him leaving the cage with an injury to his shin and an eye that was completely swollen shut. Most times, with fights like these, fighters would want time off. However, MacDonald is not most fighters.
The Bellator President told Luke Thomas on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that he had a phone conversation with MacDonald after his win over Lima. This is when the champ shocked him by what he had to say.
“Two weeks later, he calls me and he’s like, ‘I’m ready to schedule a fight,’” Coker said. “I said, ‘Rory, no, no. You need to put on the brakes here for a second. Let’s just rest.’ He said, ‘No, no, I’m ready. I’m just about ready to walk. I still have a limp, but I think I can start training in another week.’ I’m like, ‘This guy is nuts.’”
Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi will defend his title against MacDonald. The bout will happen on September 29th from San Jose, California. It has also been revealed that MacDonald will take part in the Bellator welterweight grand prix tournament as he takes on Jon Fitch. This fight is being potentially targeted for February.
“He just wants to fight, he wants to stay busy,” Coker said of MacDonald. “He wants to get out there and compete. So, I think it’s my job to slow him down. He’s chomping at the bit. And he wanted this fight with Gegard and Gegard wanted to fight him. And they wanted to test themselves.”
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Bellator president Scott Coker recalls thinking Rory MacDonald was out of his mind. MacDonald is the current Bellator welterweight champion. He captured the gold via unanimous decision in a hard-fought title bout against Douglas Lima back in January. M…
Bellator president Scott Coker recalls thinking Rory MacDonald was out of his mind. MacDonald is the current Bellator welterweight champion. He captured the gold via unanimous decision in a hard-fought title bout against Douglas Lima back in January. MacDonald is set to take on middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi in a “super fight” on Sept. 29. […]
The post Scott Coker Recalls The Time he Thought Rory MacDonald Was Nuts appeared first on MMA News.
Could “The Underground King” be on his way back to Bellator?
The post Scott Coker Expresses Interest In Eddie Alvarez Bellator Return appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
Eddie Alvarez could potentially return to Bellator MMA.
“The Underground King” has developed an amazing mixed martial arts (MMA) career over the years. Alvarez has been fighting professionally since December of 2003. In his time as a fighter, he has fought for both Bellator MMA and the UFC.
Alvarez signed with Bellator MMA back in 2009. He even competed on Bellator 1 and defeated Greg Loughran in the quarterfinals of a lightweight tournament. He’d go on to become the promotion’s first 155-pound champion of all-time.
After a successful run that lasted about five years, Alvarez finally signed with the UFC in September of 2014. Alvarez’s relationship with Bjorn Rebney’s Bellator brass, as they engaged in a lawsuit in regards to his contract status, was extremely poor.
Upon signing with the UFC, Alvarez saw great success inside the Octagon. He earned wins over the likes of Gilbert Melendez, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, and Rafael dos Anjos. The latter earned him the UFC lightweight title.
He even participated in the main event of the UFC’s first MMA event from Madison Square Garden. Alvarez headlined opposite arguably MMA’s biggest star of all-time, Conor McGregor, in a lightweight title defense. Despite losing, Alvarez earned a lot of notoriety from the platform.
Alvarez recently fought out the last fight on his previous UFC deal. He was defeated by Dustin Poirier via second-round TKO. If allowed to hit the open market after a potential exclusive negotiations clause, Alvarez would instantly become one of the hottest free agents in MMA.
Bellator MMA President Scott Coker joined Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour to discuss the situation. He admitted that, if legally allowed, he’d “love” to talk to Alvarez about a potential Bellator return (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I don’t think we’ve talked to Eddie, but listen, if he wants to reach out and have a conversation and he’s truly a free agent and we’re not interfering in anybody’s contract, we would love to talk to him,” Coker said.
“I think the guy has done a lot of good work in building his brand here in the U.S. Obviously, he’s had some great fights with Michael Chandler here in the past. We want to talk to every free agent out there that’s a big star, and I think Eddie is still a big star.”
Should Coker ink Alvarez to a deal in the future, it wouldn’t be the first time the promotion has lured fighters away from the UFC. In recent years Bellator has landed fighters such as Rory MacDonald, Gegard Mousasi, Benson Henderson, Phil Davis and many more:
“There’s somebody here, there’s somebody there,” Coker said. “It’s not like there’s hundreds or even 10s and 20s of athletes.
“It’s more of, there’s a big star here or a big star here or a medium star there. But they’re out there and we’ve been plucking them away one by one. And we’re gonna keep shopping and we’re gonna keep growing this roster.”
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Bellator president Scott Coker is open to having discussions with Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez is coming off a second-round TKO loss at the hands of Dustin Poirier. It was the last fight on “The Underground King’s” Ultimate Fighting Champio…
Bellator president Scott Coker is open to having discussions with Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez is coming off a second-round TKO loss at the hands of Dustin Poirier. It was the last fight on “The Underground King’s” Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) deal. UFC president Dana White said he’d like to re-sign Alvarez, but would understand if the […]
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