February - 2016
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
8
his laundry or something back
in the day. Bellator just wants
you to know that the two have
a beef, and you should watch
them fight because they hit
hard and did stuff on Youtube
once upon a time.
Okay, fine, I’m being a little
harsh. I have a soft spot for Bel-
lator, and I always have. Maybe
it’s because I enjoy cheering for
the underdog, even when the
underdog is backed by a behe-
moth like Viacom. Maybe it’s
because I recognize that, at the
end of the day, competition is
what the sport of mixed mar-
tial arts need.
And Bellator, way back when,
was all about sport.
Now, they’re trying to juggle
sport and spectacle, like the
big dog in the yard, the UFC,
and like just about everyone
else these days, with the ex-
ception perhaps of the WSOF.
The point is, it’s time for Bella-
tor, to borrow a phrase I real-
ized just a little too late was re-
cently used in a UFC campaign,
to go big. Go BIG, or go home.
Now is the time for them to
start trolling the free agent
market, and hooking some se-
rious players.
The reasons should be simple
and obvious to anyone. As
much as Bellator is hoping
that their freakshow fights
will draw enough eyebrows to
grow some homegrown stars,
they’ve lots out too often to
the UFC when it really matters.
Example A, Lombard, Hec-
tor. Example B, Alvarez, Eddie.
The Rampage Jackson matter
is still undecided, but his re-
moval from the UFC’s rankings
can’t be a good sign, and don’t
even get me started on the Ben
Askren situation.
To be fair, not all of these hap-
pened under Coker’s watch.
And he has signed the likes of
Phil Davis, which was a fan-
tastic move, Josh Thompson,
which seems to be working out
better than most expected, and
Josh Koscheck, which may or
may not turn out to be a smart
signing. Only Davis, however,
can really be considered a steal
as a signing.
Still, now is the time to make a
move. Consider the market at
the moment:
Alistair Overeem is a free
agent, having fought the final
bout on his contract, knocking
out Junior Dos Santos to put
an exclamation point on his
return to relevance. Overeem
and Coker clearly have a his-
tory together, which makes
signing the heavyweight star
within the realm of possibility,
though who he would fight,
unless Bellator were able to
bring in Fedor, is something of
a mystery.
Speaking of Fedor, he appar-
ently has just one other fight
on his Rizin FF contract, and
he’s certainly a guy who would
bring eyeballs, though again,
you need competition for him,
and I’m not talking about kick-
boxers who dabble in MMA.
If competition is what you’re
looking for at heavyweight,
Matt Mitrione just fought out
his contract as well, and would
no doubt love to get paid.
He’s never fought outside the
UFC, but that doesn’t mean he
wouldn’t.
Even more interestingly, step-
ping away from heavyweight
for a moment, Aljamain Ster-
ling is available, and talking
very openly about getting paid
what he’s worth. There’s a
young, exciting, relevant fight-
er just begging for Bellator/Via-
com to plop down some seri-
ous dollars in front of him.
And they should.
Remember when Bellator of-
fered Giblert… sorry, that nev-
er gets old, Gilbert Melendez
a cool two hundred grand to
come over and fight Michael
Chandler and the rest of Bel-
lator’s pretty solid lightweight
ranks, only to have the UFC
match the contract? That’s the
kind of play we need to see Bel-
lator making, consistently. Not
to mention, yes, keep signing
the older guys. I hear Wander-
lei might be available. Maybe
Brendan Schaub will be let out
of his contract if he apologiz-
es to Reebok for pointing out
what a stupid deal the uniform
agreement is for fighters. If
he can do it without blatantly
crossing his fingers.
All kidding aside, 2016 is the
year Bellator needs to make a
splash. Go big, or go home, at
least in terms of relevancy.
