Bellator 2016: 4 Title Fights

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The ratings, the cards themselves, Bellator just seems to keep looking worse and worse. They have a great roster of talent but don't seem fond of using it. Have seven title belts. And from January through September. They will have had a total of four title fights.

In comparison UFC had that many title fights plus one by the end of April. They have a few extra divisions. But even just a few months past that and they'd double the number. By the end of September they could end up a full ten ahead.

It's mind blowing to me that they let the Minakov issue get that out of hand. Now they know Straus may be out the rest of the year and still end up not booking Weichel in a Interim title bout.

Heavyweight belt has been stripped awhile now. Still no bout booked. Its really hurting the brand.

But thought about this the other day and its mind boggling to me to have four title fights through September.

And now we will have Andrey vs Lima a rematch of a dull affair. Joe T will get to face Dantas, not exactly what was planned. No Heavyweight title fight.

I know some hate Interim belts but Bellator has let their product take a hit by not using them more.

Any thoughts on how to fix the product or you think that the guys in charge are letting it slip away?
 
not to mention that a few years ago, one of their former champions lost a non title fight to a jobber
 
I think Liam is still injured. As boring as it would be as a 5 rounder, Kongo vs Johnson should be for the title honestly.
 
I hate when MMA fans bring up ratings being bad. They were the top rated sports program last friday night.LOL, in other sports that is a major win. Why is MMA fans expect extremely high ratings?

Bellator is in a rebuilding phase especially since Kimbo died. They're doing the best they can at the moment. Not sure what are you expecting for a FREE TV show. Its not like Bellator is asking you to pay $59.99 for a ppv.
 
Bellator has definately been making some bad decisions

the womens divisions have some buzz going, as well as England MMA

however, they only go to UK twice a year?

i think Kongo has shown repeatedly that he is not the guy you want to be the face of the organization and yet he keeps getting headliners, the card will not do good, especially because it takes place in Texas smh

if Bendo losses again, his star power will be completely gone. Sure Pitbull gets title shot and possible revenge for his brother but Patricio isnt exactly a superstar despite his long history with the company and being former champion
 
I hate when MMA fans bring up ratings being bad. They were the top rated sports program last friday night.LOL, in other sports that is a major win. Why is MMA fans expect extremely high ratings?

Bellator is in a rebuilding phase especially since Kimbo died. They're doing the best they can at the moment. Not sure what are you expecting for a FREE TV show. Its not like Bellator is asking you to pay $59.99 for a ppv.
There wasn't anything going on Friday and they still did really low ratings. We as fans don't care as much but execs do. It means casuals aren't tuning in. The audience hasn't gotten bigger it's gotten smaller.

You have the choice to pay the 60 bucks. And I pay it because the product is good enough.

Still it's been the same thing since Bellator started. Give Coker a year, now it's give Coker a few years. At some point it has to resemble more than a sinking ship.
 
The ratings, the cards themselves, Bellator just seems to keep looking worse and worse. They have a great roster of talent but don't seem fond of using it. Have seven title belts. And from January through September. They will have had a total of four title fights.

In comparison UFC had that many title fights plus one by the end of April. They have a few extra divisions. But even just a few months past that and they'd double the number. By the end of September they could end up a full ten ahead.

It's mind blowing to me that they let the Minakov issue get that out of hand. Now they know Straus may be out the rest of the year and still end up not booking Weichel in a Interim title bout.

Heavyweight belt has been stripped awhile now. Still no bout booked. Its really hurting the brand.

But thought about this the other day and its mind boggling to me to have four title fights through September.

And now we will have Andrey vs Lima a rematch of a dull affair. Joe T will get to face Dantas, not exactly what was planned. No Heavyweight title fight.

I know some hate Interim belts but Bellator has let their product take a hit by not using them more.

Any thoughts on how to fix the product or you think that the guys in charge are letting it slip away?

I agree it's ridiculous. They need to immediately book Lashley v. anyone as the HW title fight. Kongo is fighting Johnson so the winner of that can take the winner of Lashley and whoever he goes against. The title fight doesn't have to be the best fight at first they just need to establish someone. Lashley is a decent name and has won a lot of fights in a row, let him fight someone for it. He's also like 40 so if he's going to make a run at a championship, now is the only time he has.
 
Sad part is, they don't have much title fights left in them this year.

Heavyweight: Who knows what they'll do with this division? I'm almost certain Lashley will be in the title fight. Whether it'll be against Minakov, Mitrione, or Sergei is debatable. Maybe October-ish?

Light-Heavyweight: They'll just do Liam vs Davis in November and call it a day on that division.

Middleweight: With Shlemenko's suspension up, he will probably get the title shot against Carvalho. Salter isn't marketable enough for Bellator's liking and Grove is gone, I believe. Probably October/November.

Welterweight: Who knows if Koreshkov will get another fight this year? The Lima and Benson fights were almost a year apart. Koreshkov vs Gonzalez is the match to make. Them even considering a Lima rematch is stupid.

Lightweight: Chandler vs Pitbull/Benson will probably take place early next year. February at the most.

Featherweight: Yeah, Straus isn't coming back any time soon. Straus vs Weichel will most likely happen next year.

Bantamweight: Dantas vs Taimango would probably happen sometime in the Winter.

Women's Featherweight: Who cares? Send them to Invicta.

I think there will definitely be 3-4 more title fights left this year. 8 is a very sad number of title fights in a single year.
 
I think the Shamrocks, Gracies, Ortiz, Dada, etc. Fights hurt them in the long run too.

Sure they did great numbers and Bellator needs those but it's short term thinking. How many more times can we watch Shamrock lie down for 6 figures and take this promotion seriously?

Yes, you need to bring in casual fans but those names are only good for one or two more fights. The casuals aren't tuning in for Mitrione-Kongo 2 and I think they are alienating the serious MMA fans with the trash main events. I'm hoping it doesn't hurt Bellator in the long run because they really do have a good roster of serious young talent.
 
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