Multiple Combat Sports under one roof, next big thing? Coker?

CoffeeAndBeer

CoffeeAndBeer

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I'm not a huge Kickboxing fan, but I'm digging this GLORY action tonight. It's been awhile since I've been excited about it, but I've always loved Boxing. The Eddie Bravo-Royler Gracie Jiu Jitsu match in Metamoris was amazing. I'm definitely looking forward to Metamoris 4. Daniel Cormier is doing some "exhibition" Wrestling match soon, I don't even know where/when/who, but hell, I'll be looking out for it. There's plenty of quality MMA outside of the UFC.

...

Viacom wants to be Major League. Scott Coker's roots are Kickboxing, he's great at promoting MMA, visionary.

Could Bellator come out and re-brand itself as a multi-Combat Sport Promotion? Be it with co-promotional ties with other Orgs like Glory, Metamoris, etc, or developing their own rosters in those other sports.
 
"Major League Fighting"

"Major League Combat"

"Combat Sport League"

"Fight Sport League"
 
New Bellator format: Each round has different fighting rules. 1st round is MMA, 2nd round is BJJ, 3rd round is kickboxing, last round is wrestling. 5th round is a tie breaker sumo match.
 
I would trade a mid level MMA fight for a high level competition of any of it's individual parts.

Meaning I would be far more likely to watch a pure MMA card over one that includes MMA, Kickboxing, and Sub Grappling.
 
They have been doing these type of shows in Japan for many years.
 
What I'm thinking is Viacom having Glory type events, Metamoris/ADCC type events, and Bellator MMA events... but all under one roof. Maybe not 3 different sports on the same card/event, but on occasion, cross-promoting the sports.

Share athletes across the sports would probably be the most compelling thing about it.

An MMA card that maybe features one Kickboxing bout between Rampage and Spong. Or a Kickboxing card that feature on MMA bout between Spong and Rampage.
 
I think RJJ did a boxing/mma card a few years ago. I remember watching it.
 
CoffeeAndBeer said:
I'm not a huge Kickboxing fan, but I'm digging this GLORY action tonight.

Could Bellator come out and re-brand itself as a multi-Combat Sport Promotion? Be it with co-promotional ties with other Orgs like Glory, Metamoris, etc, or developing their own rosters in those other sports.
Click to expand...

Kickboxing is the shit. This Glory event had everything a fan of Glory/kickboxing could want. Cro-Cop won a fight (although he didn't look that impressive, IMO), A great fight between Valtellini and De Bonc (and now we'll get to see a rematch between Valtellini and Holzken). A rematch between Schilling and Barrett, a rematch between Schilling and Levin (best fight of the tournament, IMO) a return of Manhoef and the rematch between Daniel Ghita and Rico Varehoven.

Bellator being a multi-combat sport is silly. Bellator should remain pure MMA and look at acquiring talent which can assit in building the Bellator brand. Once Cocker and Viacom make Bellator a brand more than just the die hard MMA fans will want to watch, MAYBE they can think of venturing into co-promotion.
 
K-1 used to do split kickboxing/mma cards.

And I don't remember the org, but I know one of the Japanese ones mixed in BJJ and Judo matches as well.

I'm a fan of the format. It brings variety to the card, and encourages fighters to cross-over. Lets be honest, there is always special intrigue when an MMA guy does a kickboxing or BJJ fight, or when a high level BJJ guy or kickboxer comes over to MMA.
 
Bellator and Glory should definitely work together just like PRIDE and K-1 and DREAM and K-1 (which were both FEG).
 
I think this would be a cool idea every now and then, but I wonder at the logistics of it.

Are you going to hold your MMA in a ring? Or your boxing in a cage? Do you need to hire different referees and judges to score and officiate a BJJ match than you do a kickboxing fight? Are you ultimately an MMA org that will have those fights headlining the show or will you put a BJJ match over your boxing fight because they have bigger stars? Will the guys who want to see the good boxing fights stick through stuff they don't enjoy often enough to become a regular viewer? Etc etc..

A once a year type card like the Japanese New Year cards could be cool, but then how successful were they in the long run?

(Edit: not to shit on your idea of course lol, I like it, I just don't know that it doesn't raise more problems than it should solve)
 
There's the problem of the ring/cage, the promotions that actually mix MMA and kickboxing have found the way to use the same environment for both the sports:

- Croatian FFC use a ring cauz they do MMA with Pride rules + Kickboxing with K-1 rules
- British UCMMA use a cage cauz they do MMA with unified rules + UK-1 (Muay Thai in the cage with MMA gloves)

the limit is that the most regarded MMA is played in a cage with unified rules or global rules, while the best Kickboxing is in the boxing ring.

Also, GLORY 17 was maybe the best event in combat sports this year, if they don't have financial problems is better that they stick to only Kickboxing ... and also they helped DREAM in a NYE event I think.
 
I don't think most people like this....but I would love it. I loved the NYE cards like this, or the old Pride events that sometimes would have different rule sets for different fights. Hell I even liked the Roy Jones card that had boxing and mma on it, remember the one where Nelson fought Monson? Wasn't the greatest event, but I liked the idea of it and I was hoping there would be more. I would love for there to be events like this, and for mma guys to try competing in some kickboxing or grappling matches, and vice versa, have kickboxers and grapplers try their hand at mma, just like in the glory days of JMMA. I doubt it will ever happen here though, unfortunately.
 
I'm not sure but I think it was DREAM that had a match with Shinya Aoki where one round was strictly kickboxing and the other was MMA.
 
Multiple combat sports is not the next big thing, it's a rehash of an old, mostly failed idea. It was a novel concept back in 1997, but it has long since gone the way of the dodo.

The original Pride shows were exactly what you described. They had MMA, kickboxing, pro wrestling, and grappling exhibitions all on the same card. K-1 did the same thing on their NYE Dynamite cards, mixing their kickboxing and MMA brands into one big card. Inoki Genome is still trying to make it work today, with MMA and pro wrestling matches interspersed throughout certain events.

At the end of the day however, there are very few pure 'combat sports fans' who love every form of combat, just like there are very few pure 'stick-and-ball sports fans' who love every form of stick-and-ball sports. Most people have a preference. Not all football fans love soccer or baseball, and not all MMA fans love kickboxing or wrestling. Most people would prefer to watch an event tailored towards their favorite combat sport, not a hodge-podge sampling of all combat sports.
 
all across America there are probably a half dozen small level shows every weekend that are a mix of different combat sports.

I've never been a huge fan of them.
 
Cung Le promotes mixed events out here in the Bay Area and him and Scott Coker are boys
Coincidence?
I think not
 
cooperation between different combat sports have always existed and things like Fight Pass and International Fight Week could include different combat sports in the future, but mixed events have several problems:

-ring sucks for grappling and MMA, cage sucks for kickboxing
-mats have different hardness
-it gets confusing for casuals attending when every fight has different ruleset(unified MMA, kickboxing, submission wrestling, MMA with no strikes on the ground...)

I know that because they are pretty common here(combat sports are really, really niche here)
 
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