News Bellator sale talks heating up

[biomed190]

Well at least I can save some money by cancelling Showtime. I wonder where PFL will end up on TV? There can't be that many willing to pay to watch it. I'd actually just rather the UFC buy it. Something about the PFL broadcast seems so unappealing. Maybe they could get Quadros and Bas to be in the booth calling the fights.

 

[JPW328]

Covid really fucked up bellators scheduling. Ever since 2020 it seems they have been really inconsistent with shows.

might be an unpopular opinion but I think Bellator was better when Bjorn ran it. They would finish the tournaments within 2-3 months!

 

[Kb7]

Covid really fucked up bellators scheduling. Ever since 2020 it seems they have been really inconsistent with shows.

might be an unpopular opinion but I think Bellator was better when Bjorn ran it. They would finish the tournaments within 2-3 months!

It's not unpopular, Bjorn was better then Coker who is just horrible at being promoter. Bjorn at the very least wanted to take somewhere to rival the UFC, Coker doesn't know what he wants.

 

[TorontoTO]

Well at least I can save some money by cancelling Showtime. I wonder where PFL will end up on TV? There can't be that many willing to pay to watch it. I'd actually just rather the UFC buy it. Something about the PFL broadcast seems so unappealing. Maybe they could get Quadros and Bas to be in the booth calling the fights.

The broadcast feels like it was created in a boardroom by a bunch of 50+ yr old business executives who have no idea about mma.

 

[CC27]

Seems people in here are just mad Bellator got passed up by another org. THey wouldnt give a shit if Bellator bought PFL so its clearly not a merging of the roster issue.

I mean PFL is going for it while Bellator sits on their thumb, dont see how thats a bad thing. If they get behind this with some money, they are setting up shop in other countries trying to do regional thing and grow. They'd have a strong roster, be strongest number 2 ever behind UFC, actually putting some muscle behind it.

Aint that what you'll in here have wanted for 15 years to take on the evil UFC?

 

[Bobby Boulders]

I can imagine some of the talent not making the jump over to PFL.

Hopefully a few of them get signed by Rizin.

I'm expecting things to play out this way. I think the cross promotion cards and fighter sharing that Bellator did with RIZIN will likely open up potential for those who don't wanna fuck with the PFL and/or the UFC to genuinely consider RIZIN as a solid landing spot. Sakakibara is probably already planting the seeds, they need international talent to go with their newfound domestic popularity, anyway. I'd say a guy like Juan Archuleta landing there in the near future pretty much a given. Nemkov and others already have history with them...

While I'm with the camp that would love to see RIZIN be the org to merge with Bellator outright, I'm still hopeful that this will still actually end up being a positive for RIZIN, and, therefore, for MMA.

 

[JPW328]

Seems people in here are just mad Bellator got passed up by another org. THey wouldnt give a shit if Bellator bought PFL so its clearly not a merging of the roster issue.

I mean PFL is going for it while Bellator sits on their thumb, dont see how thats a bad thing. If they get behind this with some money, they are setting up shop in other countries trying to do regional thing and grow. They'd have a strong roster, be strongest number 2 ever behind UFC, actually putting some muscle behind it.

Aint that what you'll in here have wanted for 15 years to take on the evil UFC?

I am not a fan of PFL because of the super limited amount of shows they produce.
If they purchase Bellator and merge roster and put on monthly shows then I will be STOKED. But if they buy Bellator just for a few contracts and the brand, then end up doing this same regular season/playoff crap it’s not going to be good. I appreciate PFL for trying to do something different, but to have a “regular season” consisting of 2 fights and a “playoffs” with 3 fights is kind ridiculous. Regular season should be much longer than any sort of playoffs.

 

[JPW328]

I just hope they finish this damn Grand Prix. With only 3 Bellator shows left on the schedule for now, it sure doesn’t seem like they’ll crown a LW tournament champ

 

[TorontoTO]

Seems people in here are just mad Bellator got passed up by another org. THey wouldnt give a shit if Bellator bought PFL so its clearly not a merging of the roster issue.

I mean PFL is going for it while Bellator sits on their thumb, dont see how thats a bad thing. If they get behind this with some money, they are setting up shop in other countries trying to do regional thing and grow. They'd have a strong roster, be strongest number 2 ever behind UFC, actually putting some muscle behind it.

Aint that what you'll in here have wanted for 15 years to take on the evil UFC?

They need to make big changes to their broadcasts and overall format.

matchmaking is also somehow worse then Bellator. Like half the events are just mismatches

 

[TorontoTO]

I am not a fan of PFL because of the super limited amount of shows they produce.
If they purchase Bellator and merge roster and put on monthly shows then I will be STOKED. But if they buy Bellator just for a few contracts and the brand, then end up doing this same regular season/playoff crap it’s not going to be good. I appreciate PFL for trying to do something different, but to have a “regular season” consisting of 2 fights and a “playoffs” with 3 fights is kind ridiculous. Regular season should be much longer than any sort of playoffs.

I would just say get rid of the whole regular season nonsense. The bouts are usually just handpicked to get their guys in. Make it and simple 8 man tournament. 3 bouts a year instead of 4

February, July, November

 

[Terry_Dak_Tull]

Seems people in here are just mad Bellator got passed up by another org. THey wouldnt give a shit if Bellator bought PFL so its clearly not a merging of the roster issue.

I mean PFL is going for it while Bellator sits on their thumb, dont see how thats a bad thing. If they get behind this with some money, they are setting up shop in other countries trying to do regional thing and grow. They'd have a strong roster, be strongest number 2 ever behind UFC, actually putting some muscle behind it.

Aint that what you'll in here have wanted for 15 years to take on the evil UFC?

Maybe people just don't like PFL?

The league format is a disaster. One thing happens to a fighter and they are potentially screwed for a year. Someone wins by an injury tko and another fighter wins, but doesn't do it quick enough, the tko injury person can advance. No one should have to be doing playoff scenarios for an individual sport. It also chews up fighters. You have people from PFL and from the Bellator tournament days who say the same.

Many people are going to be without jobs now. If they stick with the league format, it will be many more.

Bellator can do five fights in the time PFL does two. No further explanation. We will absolutely lose that aspect with PFL. Also the smart cage is dumb.

As for the regional thing. Bellator likely drew more fans to their Paris card, than PFL drew domestically the past two seasons combined. It's something they'll never get credit for and PFL not even being able to draw domestically seems to not be an issue with anyone for some reason. Every metric though.

People also see the Francis signing and Bellator acquisition as a last ditch effort from a company that has yet to show anything at all. They've always lost money, have never drawn a dime, yet it's going to work for some reason. At some point there will be too much money spent.

 

[TorontoTO]

Maybe people just don't like PFL?

The league format is a disaster. One thing happens to a fighter and they are potentially screwed for a year. Someone wins by an injury tko and another fighter wins, but doesn't do it quick enough, the tko injury person can advance. No one should have to be doing playoff scenarios for an individual sport. It also chews up fighters. You have people from PFL and from the Bellator tournament days who say the same.

Many people are going to be without jobs now. If they stick with the league format, it will be many more.

Bellator can do five fights in the time PFL does two. No further explanation. We will absolutely lose that aspect with PFL. Also the smart cage is dumb.

As for the regional thing. Bellator likely drew more fans to their Paris card, than PFL drew domestically the past two seasons combined. It's something they'll never get credit for and PFL not even being able to draw domestically seems to not be an issue with anyone for some reason. Every metric though.

People also see the Francis signing and Bellator acquisition as a last ditch effort from a company that has yet to show anything at all. They've always lost money, have never drawn a dime, yet it's going to work for some reason. At some point there will be too much money spent.

If PFL fails which is a highly likely scenario, it will just further centralize the mma space around the ufc by taking out not one, but two big promotions. It will just be UFC, ONE (which seems to be leaving mma behind in place of just Muay Thai and barely book their mma guys), and regional powerhouses like Rizin, KSW, and ACA

 

[Hellowhosthat]

If PFL fails which is a highly likely scenario, it will just further centralize the mma space around the ufc by taking out not one, but two big promotions. It will just be UFC, ONE (which seems to be leaving mma behind in place of just Muay Thai and barely book their mma guys), and regional powerhouses like Rizin, KSW, and ACA

There'll always be new promotions.

Doesn't make it a good thing but if PFL drags Bellator down with them someone will step into the breach.

 

[Kryptt]

Rest of these orgs are bottom feeders basically. No real recognition - no perceived bang for the buck.





Basically shows what the market "expects" and what the MMA Bubble "supports".

 

[David Street]

PFL needs to put Bjorn Rebney in charge.

 

[Stan]

It's not unpopular, Bjorn was better then Coker who is just horrible at being promoter. Bjorn at the very least wanted to take somewhere to rival the UFC, Coker doesn't know what he wants.

Bjorn ran Bellator when MMA was very popular at that time. Since that time every org including the UFC has lost viewership. Bjorn had Bellator in the red Coker got them out of the red. Bjorn run Bellator never had a fighter that was ever ranked in the top 10. Yes he had name fighters that succeeded when they went to the UFC but they were never in the top 10 when they were fighting under Bjorn run Bellator.

Coker on the other hand successfully got Bellator out of the red. Coker run Bellator had fighters ranked in the top 10 in multiple divisions including having the #1 ranked LHW on the planet. Coker successfully ran the company with the little bit of money VIACOM gave them. VIACOM gave Bellator 0 promotion on the stations they own like WTF is wrong with that picture? Coker with all those obstacles still ended up making the company profitable.

Bellator has been more popular outside of the USA where they've held shows in packed arenas. Bellator MMA vs RIZIN at the Saitama Super Arena was "SOLD OUT" 3 days ago. Bellator Europe shows are packed to capacity.

PFL can't even pack an arena in Europe and the shows they've held last year and this year in the USA they couldn't even get half capacity at those arenas yet they have tons of promotion compared to Bellator.

People also see the Francis signing and Bellator acquisition as a last ditch effort from a company that has yet to show anything at all. They've always lost money, have never drawn a dime, yet it's going to work for some reason. At some point there will be too much money spent.

Well just like history has always found a way to repeat itself same goes for MMA Orgs. When you look back on all the Orgs that started to compete against the UFC all ended up falling so deep into the red investors jumped the sinking ship and the Org folded. I can't find a number of just how bad PFL is in the red but if I had to take a guess they are deeper than any of us can even imagine. As history has proved when you sink that far into dept its impossible to recover.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

It's not unpopular, Bjorn was better then Coker who is just horrible at being promoter. Bjorn at the very least wanted to take somewhere to rival the UFC, Coker doesn't know what he wants.

I miss Bjorn. The friday nights tournament were awesome. I loved them.

PFL is doing the tournament thing but I find it hard to follow and that points stuff and whacky statistics are annoying.

 

[podsox]

Bellator’s short term money grab to go to dazn was the worst decision they ever made imo

 

[skylolow]

I am not a fan of PFL because of the super limited amount of shows they produce.
If they purchase Bellator and merge roster and put on monthly shows then I will be STOKED. But if they buy Bellator just for a few contracts and the brand, then end up doing this same regular season/playoff crap it’s not going to be good. I appreciate PFL for trying to do something different, but to have a “regular season” consisting of 2 fights and a “playoffs” with 3 fights is kind ridiculous. Regular season should be much longer than any sort of playoffs.

I would say that is more likely.

PFL understands certain fighters are just above doing a tournament over and over. I would say its almost a guarantee we'll see regular events by PFL, tournaments by PFL, and PPV's by PFL. You'll have to many fighters to just keep the format. Plus you need to create more content to get more money out of your media deal now days. We bitch about the amount of UFC events and how they get thinned out on paper but the truth is that is the amount of content ESPN is paying for at its the UFC's responsibility to put a product out that ESPN is willing to pay for.

 

[skylolow]

Seems people in here are just mad Bellator got passed up by another org. THey wouldnt give a shit if Bellator bought PFL so its clearly not a merging of the roster issue.

I mean PFL is going for it while Bellator sits on their thumb, dont see how thats a bad thing. If they get behind this with some money, they are setting up shop in other countries trying to do regional thing and grow. They'd have a strong roster, be strongest number 2 ever behind UFC, actually putting some muscle behind it.

Aint that what you'll in here have wanted for 15 years to take on the evil UFC?

A lot of truth right there.