Bellator General Discussion and Info

[REDDzone]

Will the UFC pick up Brooks, or will he be frozen out like Askren?

I find it kind of strange that Coker comes out and says we will not stand in the way of Brooks' free agency. Doesn't that completely destroy his leverage? If they really wanted to do right by him, couldn't they at least act interested? Am I trying too hard to find a negative here?

Brooks was on mmahour today. Said bellator made an offer and he rejected it outright. Actually sounds like he asked for the release so they gave it for him. TBH I don't think Brooks is playing this so well. He admitted to Ariel that fighting in ufc is his dream, he got his release from bellator instead of testing free agency. I'm sure he will get what he wants in fighting for the ufc but can't help but think he is going to be leaving money on the table.

[Jasen777]

Does it do anything for Brooks if Alverez somehow manages to beat RDA?

[cowboyronnie]

The Universe folds in on itself if Alvarez beats RDA, nothing makes any sense, we live an existence without laws or regularities.

[Jasen777]

Stranger things have happened.

[REDDzone]

Fat John is one of the worst refs in the sport at this point. Reffing bellator. Perceives the fighters as inactive, he's all over them.

Carvalho lowblows Manhoef, Jon yells stop he keeps throwing elbows, Jon grabs him from behind and he STILL keeps throwing. No points taken, just a warning.

Carvalho eye pokes Manhoef, warning. Another eyepoke from Carvalho, another warning.

Carvalho with another low blow. Think we are on 5 total warnings now, 6 total if you count the lowblow/blows after he told him to stop as two warnings. Zero points taken.

Dummy will stand a fight up in about 20 seconds though if bros aren't bangin' enough for his liking.

edit: Then, after all that, Manhoef is robbed and this dude gets the decision. hahahahah. Judging just as terrible as reffing.

[Cammo101]

Just when you though nothing could top Kimbo vs. Dada 5000 for sheer awfulness, along comes Carvalho vs. Manhoef. Neither guy seemed to have any interest in winning, despite a championship belt on the line. Then Big John makes a mess of things. Then Manhoef gets robbed blind. Of course I'd feel a lot worse for him if he had seemed like he wanted to be there more. He was content to coast and let the other guy be inactive. MMA judges love meaningless takedowns, so maybe we should be surprised those meaningless takedowns were scored over Manhoef's handful of strikes each round. More than anything it is just kind of sad that a guy who seemed to have no interest in fighting tonight being rewarded. Bellator just can't seem to get out of it's own way lately.

That said, it is time for a Heavyweight Grand Prix to decide the new HW champ...

Bobby Lashley vs. Cheick Kongo
Matt Mitrione vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson
King Mo vs. Tony Johnson

[REDDzone]

How did bellator get in its own way here? Bellator makes terrible decisions at times but I have no clue what that has to do with terrible reffing and terrible judging. Those are both universal problems.

[ShowtimeFan]

Bellator is the minor leagues of MMA, they take the UFC cast-offs and has-beens, every once in a while they stumble across some unknown Russian with mad skills, but at the end of the day, they are still the-wanna-be-league.

And as such, crazy decisions, nutty fights, lame match-ups are all to be expected.

Just have to adjust (as in LOWER) your expectations when you watch...

cheers...

[Cammo101]

How did bellator get in its own way here? Bellator makes terrible decisions at times but I have no clue what that has to do with terrible reffing and terrible judging. Those are both universal problems.

The biggest problem wasn't reffing or judging, it was that terrible fight between two guys who didn't seem to even want to be there. At the rate they are going, half the Bellator main events this year are going to be trainwrecks.

I clearly thought Manhoef did enough to win that fight, but I can see how judges could have seen that fight for Carvalho. When you are landing 6 strikes a round, don't be shocked if the other guy's meaningless takedowns score more than they should. It's a sad state of affairs when a so called Big League MMA org puts on a main event title fight with a champ who doesn't care to be there, and a challenger who still can't seem to be busy enough to beat the guy who'd rather be at home.

I'm not saying Bellator made a terrible decision here. I'm saying they put on another garbage main event and it's becoming a trend. Watching Carvalho and his team celebrate in the cage after that fight left a worse taste in my mouth than Kimbo's fixed Shamrock sub and Kimbo vs. Dada combined.

[REDDzone]

The biggest problem wasn't reffing or judging, it was that terrible fight between two guys who didn't seem to even want to be there. At the rate they are going, half the Bellator main events this year are going to be trainwrecks.

How do you anticipate a fight like that being bad? Carvalho has had 14 mma fights and only 3 have went to decisions, Manhoef is Manhoef, 43 fights over a 20+ year career and he's been to decision a handful of times...yet bellator should have anticipated that those dudes would put on a boring fight?

Obviously bellator deserves blame for the other crap main events.

[Cammo101]

The biggest problem wasn't reffing or judging, it was that terrible fight between two guys who didn't seem to even want to be there. At the rate they are going, half the Bellator main events this year are going to be trainwrecks.

How do you anticipate a fight like that being bad? Carvalho has had 14 mma fights and only 3 have went to decisions, Manhoef is Manhoef, 43 fights over a 20+ year career and he's been to decision a handful of times...yet bellator should have anticipated that those dudes would put on a boring fight?

Obviously bellator deserves blame for the other crap main events.

You can't. Sometimes fights just go south on you. But, they could have predicted many of the other main events being a trainwreck, and those are the fights that make this a trend and not an outlier.

[Jasen777]

So I'm watching the fight. And It's not crazy to give Carvalho the first. He didn't officially land a strike, but he kicks, which were blocked, were the most that was happening. I mean even blocked, it's still a strike that hit something, right? You can totally hurt a guys arms like that. Though I would give it 10-10.

2nd round horrible breakage by Big John after Carvalho's but shot let Manhoef eat a couple elbows. Carvalho lands some weak leg kicks and is the one moving forward (though that's not a big point for me at all), but Manheof barely pulls the round out 10 -9 (as opposed to a 10-10).

3rd round. Eye poke by Carvalho. Eye poke by Carvalho. Carvalho with a takedown, Manhoef up soon with nothing happening. Low blow from Carvalho. Big John is pissed by just giving warnings. Carvalho cage grab. Manhoef landed more (legally). 10-9 Manheof. Big John "no more warnings".

4th round. Manhoef stuffs a takedown attempt, lands a hook. Carvalho lands a knee, gets a takedown and moves to side control, lands a few weak strikes but then Manhoef escapes to his feet. Big John warns Carvalho about his fingers. Manhoef the aggressor, but missing almost everything. Manheof literally gives up chasing the last 10 seconds as fighters take their break early. 10-10 (Manheof a little more agressive on the feet, but Carvalho did get a TD, advance, and a few strikes).

5th round. Crowd chanting Boise St, lol. Manhoef lands a few. Carvalho sorta gets a takedown, but never controls the position. Carvalho tries a throw but Manhoef lands on top. Manhoef almost mounts but Carvalho gets up, only for Manhoef to take him down. One shot landed before Carvalho pushes him off and gets up. Carvalho looks completely disinterested. 10-9 Manhoef.

So my score is 50-47 Manhoef. Don't see how Carvalho could have gotten 3 rounds under any judgement.

[Jasen777]

The announcers really brutal about the decision...

[REDDzone]

The most emotional Big John gets is when there is a takedown. He gets real bossy and loud then. Eye pokes, groin shots, etc., no problem. He will start warning you that if you do it again he will consider giving you another warning.

[Bernman]

The most emotional Big John gets is when there is a takedown. He gets real bossy and loud then. Eye pokes, groin shots, etc., no problem. He will start warning you that if you do it again he will consider giving you another warning.

Not more emotional than he just got after a suspect punch to the back of the head. This Carl Samoan hw was about to finish Meathead Mitrione in his Bellator debut, after he got cold-cocked, but then Fat John blocked one of Carl Samoan's possibly finishing punishes, he proceeded to get gun-shy, and subsequently got laid out himself a couple minutes later. That's super unprofessional. You can't block a guy's punches. Verbally warn a guy, stay out of his kitchen, and if he does it again you can d.q. him. Or just use better discretion that he was going to win anyway and award him the victory on the initial punch that ko'ed his opponent and following swarming.

Dear Fat John,

Every time I watch your fights, you've been wrong.

[REDDzone]

I didn't see it yet. Speaking of, though, I did hear Jones was trying to stop BJM from being ref in his fight though. Understandably so, although I think the NSAC is going to move forward with him.

[Bernman]

I didn't see it yet. Speaking of, though, I did hear Jones was trying to stop BJM from being ref in his fight though. Understandably so, although I think the NSAC is going to move forward with him.

I read that on a Twitter search when trying to read reactions to his behavior in this fight. I didn't see anything specifically about the blocked punch, but in general a lot of people, including journos, thought it was shady. It was more they thought the fight should have gotten stopped initially because Meathead was out, not necessarily later when Carl was if Fat John was being consistent, and they thought the UFC name/house was being favored.

Going back to the other Jo(h)n who's a douche, unfortunately I'm going to have to defend him again, like I did recently as well vis a vis that traffic stoppage. I wouldn't want Fat John yelling in my ear about how to fight, giving me warnings before even anything happens, and getting physical with me either.

[REDDzone]

I agree. The way I see it is Bones is better than DC with all else equal, wildcard outside influence is probably bad for him. That includes BJM's need to always interject himself into whichever fights he is reffing.

[Bernman]

Chandler v. Patricky for the title was the fight very few wanted to see. But it provided us with an electric ko from a right hand by Chandler. He just feinted, Patricky reacted defensively, and he went right down the pipe between the opening left. One of the cleanest one punch ko's I've seen in MMA. No wasted motion.

Either the Punk or Bendo next against him would be fights we'd want to see. But Bendo already sounds scarily punch drunk after that Koreshkov beating. It shouldn't be surprising, with that magnitude, in conjunction with him staying busy and being though some wars in the sport. Even in amateurs he got beat up badly by a 170 lber in Chad Klingensmith. He'd have a lot happier life if he stayed away from that weight.

Rampage is just about done. He's moving in slow motion out there. Couldn't get his legs back much to sprawl against telegraped td's. And 20 seconds in he was already whining Ishii wouldn't come to him because he needed that. Couldn't close distance. Still won on the scorecards. But 30-27 on one is shocking, and I don't know if he won or not. That was a boring fight so I was zipping through some of it when it was clear he was just going to get controlled for periods. Don't think that UFC and Bellator are getting many return views from Rampage anymore. Hard to know who to match him up against to make a fight exciting. At least King Mo would provide some comedy.

[AirCanadaMouse]

Why does Big John feel the need to get in the way of every fight? It's almost as if he's begging for attention now.

Also, Rampage Jackson did not win that fight. Ishii won the first two rounds in my opinion. As a Rampage fan, I'm hoping he has a great showing (win or lose) next time and calls it a career. This man tonight was no where near the Rampage Jackson many fight fans grew to love.