I think the guys promoting this event have the right idea. They'll need some support from fans. A few fertitta zombies will have to be eliminated in the process. Is mma ready for a playoff system that actually determines who is the best? Or do we still prefer zuffa to just make-believe who is the best? Bellator Fighting Championships on the right path to grow After Friday night's slate of fights in Chicago, you can see why Bellator is poised to grow. Even if you know nothing about their partnership with ESPN, or how their fighters have become Youtube sensations, the packed Aragon Ballroom, raucous crowd and exciting fights would say enough about the future of the fledgling promotion. The card was complete with knockouts, submissions and a women's bout that was unquestionably the fight of the night. It was the kind of night that would leave fans wanting more. The growth of Bellator so far has been in large part due to the fact that it has been able to quench the thirst of the fans who want. With events every week on ESPN Deportes, and then each fight quickly showing up on Youtube, Bellator is banking on the fact that fans want MMA all the time. Add into that a deal with ESPN, and some exciting fights, and voila, you have a stable promotion. According to CEO Bjorn Rebney, that was the plan from the start. "We worked on the partnership with ESPN for three years, and I love it. We had other opportunities presented to us in the interim, and my saying was always, 'He who gets ESPN wins.' Their distribution power, their hit to the demographic, their reach to 18-35 year old males and just the reality of sports programming; if you can form an alliance with them, they reach more people by mistake than everybody else does on purpose. This was our door opening. After three years of conversations, and presentations, they said, 'You can start on Deportes.'" And as Bellator continues to grow in popularity and viewership, ESPN is likely to give it a chance on a more widely distributed channel. "Next fall, you will be able to see Bellator Fighting Championships in a much larger universe, which will include English language, " Rebney said. "That was always our plan, to go to English-language, but not to abandon the Hispanic market." MMA, though largely practiced by Latinos, had not been marketed specifically to Latinos. Bellator was more than happy to fill that void. More at http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/ca...Championships-on-the-right-pat?urn=mma,164052
