Bellator General Discussion and Info

[Bernman]

Another factor is, I wonder if any sports bars will buy the bellator ppv? I'm guessing that is a pretty large source of ppv revenue for the ufc. That is what I do for the in between events. I'll split the GSP and Silva events usually with others, but for the Aldo fights, etc. I usually hit up the sports bars and suffer the broes.

It's about the same recognition and niche as WEC, so it's around however many sports bars bought that one. It's probably in the minority, but some obviously will. It kind of depends which boxing events are on that night also.

[Cammo101]

I think the card they put around Tito and Rampage will be solid, but guys like Alvarez and Chandler are only going to bring the hardcore fan who was probably going to order the card regardless. Roy Jones vs. Rampage IMO was the only way Bellator could transition successfully to PPV. Their ratings are struggling on Spike, so it seems an odd time to make the jump to PPV IMO.

They already had to make the jump because of Alvarez and Rampage. This was in the works for a while.

You can't go by Fight Master ratings or Bellator live events out of season after a huge gap. They were doing well when they were in season. They might well struggle on Fridays now too because of it being a bad day for TV and losing some talent, but that remains to be seen. Wait until midseason when people actually know their events are on to make that declaration. They can use the routine of their events to promote the PPV which is nestled in between. That was actually a smart move by them for a recent change.

Even when their ratings were up, they were not particularly good. Considering even the UFC is struggling in the PPV market right, I just can't understand their logic for making that jump. It just seems set up for failure.

I hope you are right and the new season draws well and gives the PPV a solid bump and people buy it. I'm rooting for Bellator here, I just don't see it happening.

[Cammo101]

Another factor is, I wonder if any sports bars will buy the bellator ppv? I'm guessing that is a pretty large source of ppv revenue for the ufc. That is what I do for the in between events. I'll split the GSP and Silva events usually with others, but for the Aldo fights, etc. I usually hit up the sports bars and suffer the broes.

It's about the same recognition and niche as WEC, so it's around however many sports bars bought that one. It's probably in the minority, but some obviously will. It kind of depends which boxing events are on that night also.

I don't think you can use the WEC PPV as an example, because the UFC pushed that like crazy and was the sole reason it drew as well as it did. Having the UFC behind it was the reason a lot of bars actually carried it. It was marketed almost like a UFC PPV.

[REDDzone]

Another factor is, I wonder if any sports bars will buy the bellator ppv? I'm guessing that is a pretty large source of ppv revenue for the ufc. That is what I do for the in between events. I'll split the GSP and Silva events usually with others, but for the Aldo fights, etc. I usually hit up the sports bars and suffer the broes.

It's about the same recognition and niche as WEC, so it's around however many sports bars bought that one. It's probably in the minority, but some obviously will. It kind of depends which boxing events are on that night also.

Yea wait when is this happening again? Another factor for both in home buys and bar buys could be ncaa football. If there is like a huge sec game that night or something...wonder if that could play a role.

[Bernman]

Another factor is, I wonder if any sports bars will buy the bellator ppv? I'm guessing that is a pretty large source of ppv revenue for the ufc. That is what I do for the in between events. I'll split the GSP and Silva events usually with others, but for the Aldo fights, etc. I usually hit up the sports bars and suffer the broes.

It's about the same recognition and niche as WEC, so it's around however many sports bars bought that one. It's probably in the minority, but some obviously will. It kind of depends which boxing events are on that night also.

Yea wait when is this happening again? Another factor for both in home buys and bar buys could be ncaa football. If there is like a huge sec game that night or something...wonder if that could play a role.

It's Nov. 2nd. There is Mich-Mich St, Miami-FSU, and Aub-Ark. Time will tell the importance of those games and when they'll be shown. They are all eastern though, so if Bellator starts at 10/9 like UFC, they should largely avoid a conflict.

[Cammo101]

I doubt any of those games will eat into a PPV. I wonder if the UFC will counter with a free card that night to try to bury it?

[cowboyronnie]

UFC will counter-program w/ a free card, guarantee. They can do serious damage to Bellator if they take any fraction of the buys away.

That's the definition of a monopoly.

A PPV is almost impossible to do, I really worry about it.

[Shaazzam]

So bellator is implementing a tournament winner replacement clause. Looks pretty neat.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[SDM]

So bellator is implementing a tournament winner replacement clause. Looks pretty neat.

Yeah... the points system is super cool. I'm glad that there's a contingency plan in place now because the catchweight and non-title fights were a joke.

In the scenario that eligible tournament winners are unable to challenge for a title, Bellator officials will follow a points system to determine the champion’s new opponent. Promotion officials will examine the most recent tournament held in the weight class and award the fighters points for their victories. Decision wins will be worth one point, while stoppage victories in the first, second and third rounds will be worth four, three and two points, respectively.

Bellator officials will then form a list composed of the top three or four point earners. Three groups will then vote on the next challenger, with Bellator world champions, current tournament winners and promotion executives each being given 33 percent of the voting power.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Bellat ... on-9-54935

[Bernman]

King Mo vs. Manny Newton, the rematch, for the interim title (have to do it for Newton's sake, as he already beat Mo) is now official for the PPV card.

Michael Chandler vs. Eddie Alvarez II, LW title
Manny Newton vs. King Mo II, LHW interim title
Quinton Jackson vs. Tito Ortiz


They should have kept Pitbull out of the tournament so they could ensure he be on the card. Him vs. Kawajiri would have been a sick fight.

The Daley and even Mayhem indiscretions have hurt their options. Those were two names to add cache, potentially. They could have signed Mayhem and Khalidov to fight each other, even in a one-off. And there were a number of guys in their organizations Daley could have faced (like Amoussou for example), which would have helped this card draw a little better.

It'll be interesting to see where Bellator goes from here, because these were the other 2 fights I predicted, but it gets trickier from here on.

[Cammo101]

Pitbull vs. Diego Nunes is a fight I'd like to see added to the PPV. Kongo vs. Kharitanov makes some sense as well.

[GoRapstheoriginal]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dana-white ... --mma.html

Wait & see I guess.

[Cammo101]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dana-white-counter-programming-bellator-221836412--mma.html

Wait & see I guess.

LOL at someone's 0 has to go.

[CPT]

“You’re talking about, ‘How is your competitive spirit feeling?’ My video blog does more (expletive) viewers than their television show does. I’m not feeling very competitive.”

Dana White, always good for a laugh.

Not happy about the Alvarez news. Alvarez/Chandler II is great, but Alvarez vs. like 10-15 UFC guys would have been great too. Mostly bummed that he put in his time, clearly wanted to leave, and was stopped from doing so. I hope whatever terms they gave him make him happy.

[REDDzone]

“You’re talking about, ‘How is your competitive spirit feeling?’ My video blog does more (expletive) viewers than their television show does. I’m not feeling very competitive.”

Dana White, always good for a laugh.

Not happy about the Alvarez news. Alvarez/Chandler II is great, but Alvarez vs. like 10-15 UFC guys would have been great too. Mostly bummed that he put in his time, clearly wanted to leave, and was stopped from doing so. I hope whatever terms they gave him make him happy.

Actually, IDK how closely you followed it, but Alvarez said from the very beginning that he was more than happy to sign with bellator if they matched the terms. Even after the attempted contract f*kery, he said he'd gladly fight there if they actually honored the contract.

[Jasen777]

Personally I'm not a fan of this MMA-Pro Wrestling cross-promotion.

[Cammo101]

Personally I'm not a fan of this MMA-Pro Wrestling cross-promotion.

TNA will be out of business in 6 months and you will no longer have to worry about it.

[NZB2323]

It's hard for me to take Bellator seriously when the UFC is on Fox and is on the debut of FNS1 while Bellator is on Spike TV.

If there was a basketball league on Spike TV and it had players like Allen Iverson and Karl Malone it would be a laughing stock. I guess I'll watch the title fights if I can find a place to watch Spike TV.

[Bernman]

It's hard for me to take Bellator seriously when the UFC is on Fox and is on the debut of FNS1 while Bellator is on Spike TV.

If there was a basketball league on Spike TV and it had players like Allen Iverson and Karl Malone it would be a laughing stock. I guess I'll watch the title fights if I can find a place to watch Spike TV.

UFC pulled considerably better ratings on Spike than FX, let alone Fuel.

FS1 is not an established network. Who knows how it'll fare? NBC Sports is called NBC Sports, and yet it has been slow to get off the ground.

Basketball and MMA are apples and oranges. I don't agree, but let's face it, some people don't like at fighting as athletics/sport.

Personally I'm not a fan of this MMA-Pro Wrestling cross-promotion.

It's cheesy, and a little will crossover to the MMA broadcast, but mostly I don't have to watch it so I don't care much. FWIW, it's been a creative way to lure good name fighters like Mo and Rampage. They shouldn't have tied Tito that way though. Supposedly he's been a joke, and that's not surprising. Using him as a pro wrestler given his lack of public speaking skills is one of a number of bizarre choices by Viacom. Another is they just signed Kendall Grove, further leading them down the road of being UFC old school.

[Jasen777]

They shouldn't have tied Tito that way though. Supposedly he's been a joke, and that's not surprising. Using him as a pro wrestler given his lack of public speaking skills is one of a number of bizarre choices by Viacom.

I saw the last 2 minutes when I turned it on to watch fightmaster. Rampage touched a guy who then jumped off the stage (I think it was supposed to look like Rampage through him off). The Tito pretend hit Rampage over the head with a pipe. I think he was supposed to look mean after that but Tito is a horrible actor.