Bellator General Discussion and Info

[SDM]

It was on mmamania.com.

[Bernman]

Color me a skeptic. There's no mention of it on his own personal account nor anywhere on Twitter recently. I think if were reported somewhere as big as MMA Mania, it would have disseminated. My deduction is that was a guess on MMA Mania's part, which you interpreted as info.

[REDDzone]

Wouldn't be the first time mmamania was wrong. I'm almost positive they are the ones who made me look like a fool when I created a thread saying Brock was coming back because I read their article saying it there.

Maybe they have turned over a new leaf or something, but I usually wait to hear it on mmafighting, mmajunkie, or at least bloodyelbow before I take it as gospel.

[SDM]

They burned me on the Spong WSOF undercard thing earlier this week, so yeah, it's their fault and no more.

[Bernman]

Bellator's live event summer series debut is Wednesday, June 19th. It looks like it'll be a pretty loaded card, and the prelims are juiced up to the point where I wonder if they'll start airing them on a lesser channel like UFC does.

Their reality show, Fight Master, debuts the following night, Thursday June 20, in their previous live event time slot.

[CPT]

Would love Bellator to move to Wednesday nights.

Since I'm a day ahead, Thursday nights become Friday nights for me, and if I don't have time to watch Friday night, I usually find out the results and lose interest.

[Bernman]

I stand corrected. SDM was right. Babalu is indeed in the LHW tourney. That's a pretty ridiculous decision by Bellator, and already one of the things I was worried about in regards to the institution of some 4-man tourneys has reared its ugly head. It gives the promotion too much discretion, which I thought the tourney concept was supposed to avoid. In this case a fighter in Babalu gets moved up one rung on the title ladder for getting knocked out. He lost in the quarters of an 8-man tourney. Now he gets dropped into the semis of a 4-man. That's unacceptable. I'd accept if he was back into an 8-man tourney, but not in a 4-man. Seth Petruzelli might be in with the same scenario unfortunately. I know he's on the card, and says he has big news. It'd be even worse if he was fighting Babalu. They'd be engineering the outcome heavily.

[Bernman]

Man, they constructed a terrible LHW tourney. It's King Mo-Petruzelli and Babalu-Noe. This was my fear with instituting a 4-man tourney. It wasn't necessarily their impetus, they needed to get more tourneys into summer series, but now that they're in place it's an easy way to engineer the champ you want, and sacrifice quality match ups in the process. With 8-man real tourneys, a guy always had to face 1 or 2 legit guys. It's hard to engineer a tourney that big. At least one participant will be underrated and at least one prospect will develop. Look at the last LHW tourney with Newton and Zayats. They probably wanted Mo to win, but it wasn't going to be easy. Look at Khasbulaev surprise in the FW tourney. 8-man tourneys don't typically go to plan, which is a good thing, because a meritorious champion will be produced. With a 4-man tourney things can more go to plan, and that's scary. They might as well do away with tourneys if they're going to be that small. Just skip the formality, make the matches and title fights you want, and the champions won't have to wait anymore.

The only good thing is that they also announced Chandler-Jansen will be on the card. It's a good thing he won't have to wait any longer than absolutely necessary at this point. He should be on front street in Bellator.

[Bernman]

"Fight Master Cast"

Here are the 32 fighters featured on the show:

Marcus Aurelio
Age: 26
Record: 6-2-0
Vancouver, British Columbia
Twitter: @barraozinho

Nick Barnes
Age: 22
Record: 5-0-0
San Diego, CA
Twitter: @Nick_phoenix170

Eric Bradley
Age: 31
Record: 5-1-0
Las Vegas, NV
Twitter: @ericbradleymma

Mike Bronzoulis
Age: 34
Record: 15-5-1
Houston, TX
Twitter: @thegreekmikeb

Frank Carrillo
Age: 29
Record: 6-3-0
Miami, FL
Twitter: @CarrilloMMA

Darryl Cobb
Age: 32
Record: 6-6-0
East St. Louis, IL
Twitter: @devistatdarryl

Christopher Curtis
Age: 25
Record: 7-2-0
Cincinnati, OH
Twitter: @TheActionman513

Evan Cutts
Age: 22
Record: 5-1-0
Dallas, TX
Twitter: @TheButcherCutts

Mike Dubois
Age: 30
Record: 3-0-0
Thomasville, GA
Twitter: @zombiemikemma

Tom Gallicchio
Age: 26
Record: 16-8-0
Howell, NJ
Twitter: @TomDaTank5

Ismael Gonzalez
Age: 32
Record: 11-10-0
Los Angeles, CA
Twitter: @Ismael_mma

Gareth Joseph
Age: 28
Record: 9-5-0
San Diego, CA
Twitter: @garethjoseph

Chris Lozano
Age: 30
Record: 9-3-0
Cleveland, OH
Twitter: @CLE_assassin

AJ Matthews
Age: 24
Record: 5-2-0
Carlsbad, CA
Twitter: @AJ_MMA

Rob Mills
Age: 35
Record: 8-2-0
Newcastle, United Kingdom
Twitter: @robmillsmma

Steve Montgomery
Age: 22
Record: 3-1-0
Florence, SC
Twitter: @WeaselSteve

Chip Moraza-Pollard
Age: 24
Record: 7-4-0
Plymouth, MA
Twitter: @chipthesurgeon

Brett Nakamura
Age: 30
Record: 6-1-0
Maui, HI

Jason Norwood
Age: 28
Record: 12-3-0
Fort Hood, TX
Twitter: @rightfight170

Dom O'Grady
Age: 31
Record: 15-5-1
Detroit, MI
Twitter: @Dom_OGrady

Jacob Ortiz
Age: 31
Record: 8-4-0
San Manuel, AZ
Twitter: @KobeTheStunna

Josh Quayhagen
Age: 26
Record: 6-1-0
Lake Charles, LA
Twitter: @JoshQuayhagen

Joe Riggs
Age: 30
Record: 39-14-0
Phoenix, AZ
Twitter: @DIESELRIGGSMMA

Eric Scallan
Age: 27
Record: 11-4-0
Lafayette, LA
Twitter: @EricScallan

Cristiano Souza
Age: 30
Record: 5-0-0
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Twitter: @SouzaSoldierBoy

Brendan Tierney
Age: 37
Record: 10-5-0
Queens, NY
Twitter: @Tiny_Shorts

Bryan Travers
Age: 29
Record: 13-3-0
Bakersfield, CA
Twitter: @BryanTravers

Andy Uhrich
Age: 27
Record: 8-3-0
Gering, NE
Twitter: @stunneruhrich

Tim Welch
Age: 22
Record: 8-4-0
Great Falls, MT
Twitter: @TimWelchMT

Cole Williams
Age: 30
Record: 5-1-0
Darian, WI
Twitter: @havocole

Joe Williams
Age: 27
Record: 7-1-0
Tustin, CA
Twitter: @jawmma

Artenas Young
Age: 32
Record: 9-5-0
Houston, TX
Twitter: @MachineGunYoung

It looks about TUF level from what I know. Interesting that a lot of these guys have already been on Bellator shows, and a couple were in tourneys. Souza, Aurelio, Curtis, Cutts, Matthews, and Quayhagen have some promise of the ones I know. I don't know anything about the two undefeated fighters named Barnes and Dubois. The rest are journeyman, or guys who probably need to improve to be factors later in the their careers.

Not entirely sure what the show or fighters will look like. Will have to give it a few episodes at least starting in June to tell whether it's better, worse, or equal to TUF.

[Jasen777]

Marcus Aurelio
Age: 26
Record: 6-2-0
Vancouver, British Columbia
Twitter: @barraozinho

Is that the Capoeira guy?

[Bernman]

It's capoiera guy (so is Souza, but Aurelio is the one who got notoriety for it). I thought he looked really good in his debut, against lackluster comp, before gassing incredibly hard about halfway thru the fight, and losing on the cards. He should be a LW with his frame and style. If he uses capoeira, he needs to be more selective, not because it's not effective, but they are high energy techniques.

[kdawg32086]

LOL Joe "Diesel" Riggs is on the show.

[Cammo101]

LOL Joe "Diesel" Riggs is on the show.

The scary thing is he may be the favorite. This show looks like someone said "What would happen if we made a show just like TUF, but with far less talented fighters?".

14 of the 32 guys on the show are coming off a loss and one is even on a 5 fight losing streak. Best and brightest.

At least the coaches should keep it interesting.

[SDM]

Marcus Aurelio
Age: 26
Record: 6-2-0
Vancouver, British Columbia
Twitter: @barraozinho

Is that the Capoeira guy?

[Bernman]

LOL Joe "Diesel" Riggs is on the show.

The scary thing is he may be the favorite. This show looks like someone said "What would happen if we made a show just like TUF, but with far less talented fighters?".

14 of the 32 guys on the show are coming off a loss and one is even on a 5 fight losing streak. Best and brightest.

At least the coaches should keep it interesting.

Nope, it's pretty reminiscent of a TUF cast on the surface (which isn't a good thing, but much better than you're leading on), and saying Riggs may be the favorite shows how skewed your perspective is about the other fighters. We also haven't seen the show to say it's almost identical to TUF's format. It seems more than I would have liked, but Jonathan Snowden supposedly has seen it. But you're a blind hater of Zuffa's competition, so not surprising you'd see things this way.

[SDM]

I was actually quite impressed with the roster. More than a couple of these guys are capable of winning a TUF... not seeing much difference here actually between the prospects. Are Dustin Pague and Frank Lester really any better than Artenas Young and Chris Lozano? I like AJ Matthews early... I remember him being floated around a couple years ago as a can't miss prospect... and evidently he missed (thus far). We'll see. Riggs won't last, too beaten up, too many weight cuts. Can't believe he's only 30!

I don't know much about Joe Warren's coaching credentials (I imagine he's highly regarded in the wrestling world... duh), but jeez, he's on the far short end of the MMA name recognition stick compared to FrankSham/Randy/Greg Jackson.

[Bernman]

I was actually quite impressed with the roster. More than a couple of these guys are capable of winning a TUF... not seeing much difference here actually between the prospects. Are Dustin Pague and Frank Lester really any better than Artenas Young and Chris Lozano? I like AJ Matthews early... I remember him being floated around a couple years ago as a can't miss prospect... and evidently he missed (thus far). We'll see. Riggs won't last, too beaten up, too many weight cuts. Can't believe he's only 30!

I don't know much about Joe Warren's coaching credentials (I imagine he's highly regarded in the wrestling world... duh), but jeez, he's on the far short end of the MMA name recognition stick compared to FrankSham/Randy/Greg Jackson.

Now this is a reasonable, knowledgeable take.

I hoped for better, but maybe I'm too idealistic.

Here's the trailer if anyone is interested.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB3PbCoT79s[/youtube]

[SDM]

Yeah, that got me pumped.

I can't wait for Gym Rescue or whatever reality gym improvement show Randy's hosting. I want to see him go all Jon Taffer and scream at people.

[Cammo101]

LOL Joe "Diesel" Riggs is on the show.

The scary thing is he may be the favorite. This show looks like someone said "What would happen if we made a show just like TUF, but with far less talented fighters?".

14 of the 32 guys on the show are coming off a loss and one is even on a 5 fight losing streak. Best and brightest.

At least the coaches should keep it interesting.

Nope, it's pretty reminiscent of a TUF cast on the surface (which isn't a good thing, but much better than you're leading on), and saying Riggs may be the favorite shows how skewed your perspective is about the other fighters. We also haven't seen the show to say it's almost identical to TUF's format. It seems more than I would have liked, but Jonathan Snowden supposedly has seen it. But you're a blind hater of Zuffa's competition, so not surprising you'd see things this way.

TUF has had some questionable casts, but this is a clear step down from even their worst. Half these guys are coming off a loss. Half. One of these guys is on a 5 fight losing streak.

I know it is easier to just write me off as some hater than to take off those Bellator colored glasses and actually look at these guys for what they are.

[Bernman]

Bellator is moving to 7 EST on Thursdays it appears. TNA is moving back to 9 EST, Bellator's first summer series event starts at 7 EST, and in spite of it falling on a Wednesday, that won't be the norm going forward as they've already booked events for Thursdays in fall. It's not a matter of if, but when. At least by fall they'll slide into being the lead-in for TNA, instead of being the follow-up, or switching to a different night. Otherwise the move could happen as soon as July. Supposedly there is no venue for the event yet, and maybe that's why. They're still deciding.