In Ryan Bader's absence, should Valentin Moldavsky defend his interim HW belt?

[svmr_db]

When Valentin Moldavsky won the interim Bellator HW championship, Scott Coker proposed that he may be interested in defending his belt given that Bader was tied up with the LHW grand prix. Now that Bader has lost, and subsequently been finished, he may need more time to recover before entering another fight camp.

Should Moldavsky defend the belt to stay busy? Or sit and wait until Bader is ready? I'm sure Bader will not be looking to return any sooner than March, that would be a lot of time off for Moldavsky to wait. Surely there's someone he could defend the interim belt against in a few months to keep active.

 

[GueseGuy]

Maybe if Minakov wins you could do Moldavsky-Minakov in the next Russia event. Bader will need at least 6-8 months after a tko to fight again.

 

[tehMoose]

Strip Bader, he won the HW belt in that weak GP. Didn't beat any contenders at HW

Fake champ

 

[TorontoTO]

Maybe if Minakov wins you could do Moldavsky-Minakov in the next Russia event. Bader will need at least 6-8 months after a tko to fight again.

Bader also needs to bulk up for HW, I say Minakov vs. moldavsky and then the winner faces vassell/fortune winner or if Bader is ready

 

[careto]

I would think a fight vs Fortune is ideal, but after he ducked Minakov like that I say fuck him. He shouldnt fight for the interim.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

Moldavsky vs the Fortune/Vassell winner ?

Minakov doesn’t deserved a title shot… he is not even a full time fighter nowadays…

they really need some new hw’s on their roster ASAP

 

[TheBrownRanger]

Ryan Bader vs Valentin Moldavsky is fine. Bader only got TKO'd and didn't take a LOT of damage seeing how he flopped around the cage like a fish out of water against Corey. I'd imagine they would book it for Q1/Q2 2020. Bellator tends to be really slow in booking title fights.

Minakov/Suoma winner vs Linton Vassell - title eliminator
Cheick Kongo vs Tyrell Fortune
Tim Johnson vs Minakov/Suoma loser

 

[TorontoTO]

Ryan Bader vs Valentin Moldavsky is fine. Bader only got TKO'd and didn't take a LOT of damage seeing how he flopped around the cage like a fish out of water against Corey. I'd imagine they would book it for Q1/Q2 2020. Bellator tends to be really slow in booking title fights.

Minakov/Suoma winner vs Linton Vassell - title eliminator
Cheick Kongo vs Tyrell Fortune
Tim Johnson vs Minakov/Suoma loser

Vassell is booked against Fortune, so Minakov/Sowma winner vs. Vassell/Fortune winner for next title
Chieck Kongo vs. Mowry
Johnson vs. any of the losers of Minakov/Sowma/Vassell/ Fortune

 

[BFoe]

Bader will be defending his HW belt against Fedor, after Fedor sparks Tim Johnson next weekend.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

Vassell is booked against Fortune, so Minakov/Sowma winner vs. Vassell/Fortune winner for next title
Chieck Kongo vs. Mowry
Johnson vs. any of the losers of Minakov/Sowma/Vassell/ Fortune

Nah... Feed Fortune to Tim Johnson again. He should not be in the discussion after ducking Minakov.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Maybe if Minakov wins you could do Moldavsky-Minakov in the next Russia event. Bader will need at least 6-8 months after a tko to fight again.

Minakov has his bi-annual fight this week though. He'll be wanting another couple of years off after this.

 

[GueseGuy]

Minakov has his bi-annual fight this week though. He'll be wanting another couple of years off after this.

Yeah I used to like Minakov but it’s clear he doesn’t care about fighting for Bellator and prob would like to go to UFC. I say let Moldavsky beat him, get that win on his resume and let Minakov walk. Let him go to UFC if he can arrange a deal. He’s been in Bellator 10 years almost time for him to move on. But they need him to lose to Moldavsky first.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Yeah I used to like Minakov but it’s clear he doesn’t care about fighting for Bellator and prob would like to go to UFC. I say let Moldavsky beat him, get that win on his resume and let Minakov walk. Let him go to UFC if he can arrange a deal. He’s been in Bellator 10 years almost time for him to move on. But they need him to lose to Moldavsky first.

I think he'd beat the utter fuck out of Moldavsky, I'd avoid booking that like the plague if Minakov wants to walk.

 

[GueseGuy]

I think he'd beat the utter fuck out of Moldavsky, I'd avoid booking that like the plague if Minakov wants to walk.

I’d say its no guarantee that Moldavsky wins cause Minakov is an absolute animal but they need to book this fight. It’s the best HW fight they have and I’m sure it’ll do well in Russia if they have it there. It’s kinda like the Gane/Ngannou situation. UFC doesn’t want Ngannou to win but it’s the fight they have to make to move the division on. They are hoping Gane wins but it’s the fight to make. Same thing here. You can’t let good fighters get old/leave without building the next man up. It’s what the UFC is so good at it and it’s why they were so pissed when GSP left with the MW belt and when Khabib did with LW. Bellator is in the same spot with MVP as well. He needs to fight for the belt soon or it’s a complete waste of time.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I’d say its no guarantee that Moldavsky wins cause Minakov is an absolute animal but they need to book this fight. It’s the best HW fight they have and I’m sure it’ll do well in Russia if they have it there. It’s kinda like the Gane/Ngannou situation. UFC doesn’t want Ngannou to win but it’s the fight they have to make to move the division on. They are hoping Gane wins but it’s the fight to make. Same thing here. You can’t let good fighters get old/leave without building the next man up. It’s what the UFC is so good at it and it’s why they were so pissed when GSP left with the MW belt and when Khabib did with LW. Bellator is in the same spot with MVP as well. He needs to fight for the belt soon or it’s a complete waste of time.

It's a balancing act really, but they'd have to maybe waive the championship clause were they to do it so Vitaly isn't locked in if he wins. I don't personally think they'll offer Minakov it without the clause and I don't think Minakov is particularly bothered about winning the belt either.

Next is probably unification with Bader then maybe the winner of Vassell/Fortune.

 

[Go Go Plata]

Strip Bader, he won the HW belt in that weak GP. Didn't beat any contenders at HW

Fake champ

I doubt they would go through the trouble of a GP just to strip the champ. I want to see a full-time HW Bader. I think he can still be competitive.

Have Moldavsky defend once and then do a unification match.

 

[TorontoTO]

Minakov has his bi-annual fight this week though. He'll be wanting another couple of years off after this.

Minakov will whine about how he can't get a visa when the real reason is that he doesn't want to give money to his old manager after he broke contract

 

[TorontoTO]

I doubt they would go through the trouble of a GP just to strip the champ. I want to see a full-time HW Bader. I think he can still be competitive.

Have Moldavsky defend once and then do a unification match.

Bader's lack of chin and speed will be helped by not dehydrating and everyone at HW being even slower then him

 

[Oozing BDE]

Believe it or not, the original purpose of an interim champ was to defend the title until the real champ came back.

 

[Poser Caust]

anyone know much about the history of interim belts in bellator ?