Bellator General Discussion and Info

Bernman · Post #221 » by **Bernman** » Fri May 11, 2012 10:45 pm

I like Sandro, Galvao, Zaromskis, and Marrero on the main card. This isn't a particularly good main card or prelims though. They distributed a disproportionate amount of talent to 66 and the subsequent two cards suffered as a result. The next two cards they pick it back up again. I especially like next week's card, which if you're interested in finding out about, you can check the original post.

As far as the pro wrestling tie in with Bellator, it doesn't bother me in the least because King Mo was a mixed martial artist first. I didn't really have a problem with it either when the UFC brought in Lesnar because of his elite amateur wrestling background. My only problem with it was him being fast tracked to a title shot/super super stardom. Of course that's what Bellator's system is aimed at preventing, so there's not a possibility of that occurring with them. I won't have a problem unless they start featuring fighters based not primarily on their MMA abilities but rather marketability. Of course that would directly contradict what they said was important in the past.

REDDzone · Post #222 » by **REDDzone** » Sat May 12, 2012 12:04 am

I'm meh on the card overall, but interested in the tourney fights for sure. War Galvao. I also like Sandro to win.

As for the wrestling thing, I just hate when people equate the two sports. The "is that stuff real" questions that I occasionally get from people who find out I like mma is already unbearable. Guys fighting in popular pro wrestling orgs as well as the second biggest mma promotion at the same time...I just don't see anything good coming from it.

REDDzone · Post #223 » by **REDDzone** » Sat May 12, 2012 2:48 am

In the battle of which mma fighter has the face that looks most like a caveman, who wins: Hendo, Cain, or Zaromskis?

SDM · Post #224 » by **SDM** » Sat May 12, 2012 12:09 pm

How many times do you end up seeing a trilogy that contains only one completed fight?

Wanna bet Rebney was crossing his fingers and cursing under his breath after Sandro ate the nut shot heard around the world?

Galvao is awesome.

REDDzone · Post #225 » by **REDDzone** » Sat May 12, 2012 3:36 pm

Is Straus the new Kongo with the nut shots? - I don't recall specifically, but I was reading somewhere BEFORE this fight that he hit a lot of dudes in the nuts...then he got Sandro last night? :lol:

Bernman · Post #226 » by **Bernman** » Sat May 12, 2012 4:01 pm

SDM wrote:Wanna bet Rebney was crossing his fingers and cursing under his breath after Sandro ate the nut shot heard around the world?

At least this time they wouldn't have had to wait 3 and half months for it to be re-matched. There was an event the next two weeks. Sandro should have taken the time to recover. Swollen balls couldn't have helped his movement.

Galvao is awesome.

His TDD is as good as it gets. His chin seems to be solid too, but somehow he got KO'ed swiftly by bantamweights in both his WEC fights. Bowles is the toughest opponent of his career, but he's faced better than Page probably. Those outcomes seem like anomalies.

How about the guard pull and heel hook by Held? That was Paul Harris esque. Held is one of the most entertaining BJJ practitioners in MMA.

Whitemare-Spiritwolf was fun while it lasted. That was one of the flimsiest cut stoppages I've ever seen. That cut wasn't that voluminous and he was dominating after suffering it. Spiritwolf was possibly the best .500 fighter in MMA, now he's the best sub .500 fighter.

REDDzone · Post #227 » by **REDDzone** » Sat May 12, 2012 9:00 pm

I didn't see the Galvao fight, my stream was skipping so much it was unbearable. Any truth to the assertion that he won due to a Falcao-like fence grab that landed him on top in a close round?

Bernman · Post #228 » by **Bernman** » Thu May 17, 2012 7:10 pm

Falcao missed weight by 2 lbs on his first try, so Bellator could have another tourney finale fiasco on their hands here. I hope Falcao can sweat the rest out, and if not Bellator doesn't award Spang their tourney title off what was one dramatic comeback win. Give Falcao another week to make weight or have Vasilevsky replace him. Vasilevsky probably deserved the W over Falcao if you take into account Maiquel's fence grab to steal close round.

There was not much drama between Falcao and Spang at the weigh-ins ironically. Most of the drama during the event came during Amoussou's and Rickels' turn. Amoussou called Rickels an ugly pit of despair and said he knows he'll win just on comparative appearances. Then they went face to face during the staredown and Rickels held a toothbrush to Amoussou's mouth.

This will be an entertaining card you guys. I suggest you find a way to watch the prelims because there isn't a bad fight on there and some are better than the main card fights actually.

Bernman · Post #229 » by **Bernman** » Thu May 17, 2012 10:07 pm

Fiasco averted - Falcao makes weight on 2nd attempt. After the debacle with Big Monster, Bjorn probably personally escorted Falcao to the sauna and squeezed him like an orange.

REDDzone · Post #230 » by **REDDzone** » Fri May 18, 2012 3:23 pm

It would be sweet if that fight ended up a double KO.

SDM · Post #231 » by **SDM** » Fri May 18, 2012 3:26 pm

I find this card kinda underwhelming, at least the main card. Interested in the Rickels fight, plus the guy Sparks is fighting on the prelims with a 15-1 record who hasn't lost since 2002, that might be interesting to see. Living with a woman means I have to pick my live MMA watching battles because I can't watch the next day (far too impatient, will always seek out results) and enjoy it as much. UFC cards have been fairly golden lately and SF is a must-watch on Saturday, so this will be skipped, most likely. Wifey's allowed to use the main TV too, it's how you keep the peace.

cowboyronnie · Post #232 » by **cowboyronnie** » Fri May 18, 2012 10:35 pm

"ugly pit of despair "??????????

Bernman · Post #233 » by **Bernman** » Sat May 19, 2012 5:39 pm

Pretty good event top to bottom, like expected.

Here's a video of Koreshkov's fight last night:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_zlDExG88g&feature=youtu.be&a[/youtube]

In other Eastern European Bellator fighter news, Bjorn reported on MMA Junkie yesterday that the last report he heard about Blagoi had him in a coma and his kidneys failing, but Bulgarian news just posted a video of him up and about. http://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=365572 Don't know which status is more recent.

Bernman · Post #234 » by **Bernman** » Tue May 22, 2012 4:45 pm

Finally some good news for Bellator in the ratings department. Ironically on the same night when TUF scored their worst rating in their history, Bellator drew over 200K (209) viewers on MTV2 for the first time this season. Who knows how many watched between that channel, Epix, Spike.Com, and Bellator.com? They were drawing over a 250K average at the end of season 4/summer series before they started simulcasting on Epix alone.

You'd never know from the activity in this thread over the weekend, lol. Strikeforce and TUF seem to have a disproportionately big following here for whatever reason. Maybe it's all the Canadians and Bellator isn't live on the Score.

Any belated thoughts on the fights or the video of Ivanov coming out of the coma finally?

About next week's card, it's very week for a finale. The main card is alright, but I don't understand a lot of the prelim choices, and if they end up losing a significant match-up late like has been happening a lot recently, they could be at a loss in terms of the replacement.

SDM · Post #235 » by **SDM** » Tue May 22, 2012 5:00 pm

Bernman wrote:
You'd never know from the activity in this thread over the weekend, lol. Strikeforce and TUF seem to have a disproportionately big following here for whatever reason. Maybe it's all the Canadians and Bellator isn't live on the Score.

We can watch Bellator live up here. In my case, it's rare that I'm able to sit down and watch TV on a Friday night. If Bellator was on Saturdays, I'd watch entire cards religiously.

Bernman · Post #236 » by **Bernman** » Tue May 22, 2012 5:11 pm

You mean the stream is live, right? Or you have a fancy sports package? I know it's on a one day tape delay on Score TV.

King Mo inkled that Bellator would be moving to weeknights at least by 2013 when he revealed his debut would happen on January 14th, a Monday. I think they should move to weekdays ASAP. They are worried about the live gate, but more exposure on television would translate into better attendance. So would holding events at mid-size (8,000 capacity or so) arenas because they would no longer exclude sub 21-year old college students, high schoolers, and families like they do at Indian casinos. But I understand they want to play it safe until they move to Spike. Supposedly they are pulling a slight profit.

SDM · Post #237 » by **SDM** » Tue May 22, 2012 5:16 pm

Bernman wrote:You mean the stream is live, right? Or you have a fancy sports package? I know it's on a one day tape delay on Score TV.

I can't watch prelims unless I watch a stream, but the main card is live on Bellator's website.

REDDzone · Post #238 » by **REDDzone** » Tue May 22, 2012 5:18 pm

SDM wrote:In my case, it's rare that I'm able to sit down and watch TV on a Friday night. If Bellator was on Saturdays, I'd watch entire cards religiously.

Pretty much this for me. I just can't stay home every Friday night. Even when I just go out for dinner or something, I end up missing a huge chunk of the card. Then the last two times I have tried to tune in for the live stream, it was superrr laggy for me. Not sure why, never had problems with it before.

So basically if I am already hesitant to stay in to watch mma on Friday nights, the fact that my stream freezes every 7 seconds lately for whatever reason makes it for sure not worth it.

Would be awesome if they get off Friday nights. I honestly liked this on Saturday better, then I just watch one event, dvr the other.

cowboyronnie · Post #239 » by **cowboyronnie** » Tue May 22, 2012 6:43 pm

mmatracker, no? or just isohunt.

Bernman · Post #240 » by **Bernman** » Tue May 22, 2012 6:48 pm

I too haven't been able to see a few Bellator events live this and every season, but I DVR the series and can find most prelims uploaded afterward, so I don't end up missing much.