http://mmajunkie.com/2017/11/bellat...anenko-chael-sonnen-rampage-jackson-frank-mir Names who will be competing include: Fedor, Mir, Sonnen, Rampage, Mitrione etc
Fedor vs Mir (if Fedor beats Frank, he's beaten every UFC HW rival of his era) Mitrione vs Rampage (they had beef before) I'd be just as happy with Fedor/Rampage, though. That'd be short but very exciting!
This is probably the best thing Bellator can do. How often have we said they should have a masters tournament, well Bellator is essentially now a masters league. I'll be rooting for Mir.
Bellator have 3-4 really good divisions. It sucks that they fixate on crap like this instead of promoting the superior and fresh talent more efficiently. I get that a lot of these guys still draw way more - but they could still juggle both in a better way without having these farcical cards filled with retirees.
I totally disagree mate. I've wanted to see masters fights for a while. These old legend's who still need to earn a living but are nothing but sacrificial lambs to the new blood who can still put on 12 hours a day training. Having them face off against each other is brilliant. It's probably the best way they can compete with UFC in a meaningful way. Look at Ortiz vs Sonnen and Silva vs Sonnen. Fedor vs Mitrione. Those are the big Bellator events and they have found their niche with it. UFC don't want losing fighters on their roster, Bellator just want big numbers and name value. This works perfectly. Don't go to Bellator if you want to be the beat in the world, do go to Bellator if you wanna compete with past greats.
Nothing wrong with masters. But Bellator has legitimate talent, that deserves to be recognized. Cokers handling of Bellator has led to it being ridiculed and laughed at for a reason (Shamrock/Gracie/Slice/Dada 5000 fiasco's) Something in the middle i.e events where their legitimate champions are featured side by side with these old vets is alright in my books. That's actually a great way to bring attention to the likes of Caldwell-Pitbull-Chandler-Lima(and the other top welterweights) so yeah... a balance is needed. No one can complain if these big Bellator cards equally showcase the old and the new - But Coker usually doesn't do that.
The thing is for me, there's already lesser tournaments that are happy being feeders to UFC like cage rage bamma etc. Bellator has bigger ambitions and wants to compete with UFC. They'll never out bid them for talent, they'll never get the prestige as the best organisation. UFC has completely monopolised that market. But this masters idea, that they can do something with. UFC benefit because every time their past champs win, the guys who beat them have their resume improved, Bellator win because people want to see these freak show events. I think the days of having a pride or a strike force or a dreams or a shooto are gone now. If you want to compete with the UFC you need to bring something else to the table. I mean I know they signed Bader and Moose. But realistically what do you think people will watch, Moose vs Bader for the LHW title or Mir vs Fedor in the final of a HW grand prix? For me it's a no brainer. Sign up the old talent, match them up and appeal to the casuals who longed for the match ups. Wanderlei vs Belfort 2. Ortiz vs Liddell 4. Shamrock vs Shamrock. People will still pay for these events. Let's be honest, Belfort vs Silva 2 is much better than Belfort vs Gastelum.
