Poor Bellator

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 8:57am

Did anyone besides me watch the Bellator fights this weekend? It put the UFC card to shame IMO. (except for the Kongo/Barry fight)

Several great grappling exchanges and awesome high energy featherweights.

***Tranquil Suit*** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 10:19am

Poor nothing. They are still an amateur promotion. I'm not talking about size, I'm talking about professionalism. They're still amateurs, with a long way to go.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 12:33pm

What? Why? they had better refs and better match-ups this weekend.

**Soldiermedic** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 1:17pm

Jay Hieron lives a charmed life

**atomicpoet** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 1:38pm

They need to finetune their marketing. Right now, they're attempting to appeal to the same demographic as every other promotion: the hardcore fan. Don't get me wrong, the hardcore fan is the lifeblood of MMA -- but that's not how you expand your appeal.

Right now, UFC is the trusted face of MMA -- even though the matchmaking has been downright horrible lately. If I'm a hardcore fan, though, I'm going to tune into UFC. It's got a great stable of talent, and is consistent about the product it delivers.

If I was running Bellator, I'd start marketing to people who aren't yet MMA fans.

**onymous** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 4:32pm

Refs that speak a language the fighters understand would be nice, also I don't know how much control they have over the judges, but however much they have it's the wrong amount. **** is pretty dire sometimes.

That said. Yeah dug the fights.

**billy sol hurok** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 7:21pm

Originally Posted by onymous

I don't know how much control they have over the judges, but however much they have it's the wrong amount. **** is pretty dire sometimes.

QFT. There have been some surprising results.

Even so, they have a pretty good talent pool. The tournament thing makes for a different paradigm -- those guys fight pretty often, yet you'd hardly know it by how hard they go at it. (Presumably the "no elbows" rule for tourney prelims is intended to keep the fighters less cut up.)

Last season (April?) Ben Killa Bee Saunders had a savage non-tourney fight; Huerta has competed there. I'm happy the fighters have an alternative if Zuffa isn't hiring, especially now that WEC is no more. (Talk about a promotion that had exciting fights.)

I assume the switch to MTV2 is intended to hook in some new fans.

**ds1001** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 9:22pm

i like watching bellator but they are just getting out marketed by the ufc which is a shame because they have a very good product

**DaTedBear** · Posted On: 6/28/2011 1:30pm

The new season tournaments are just a few months away. Want to see how the welterweights shape up. looking for Brent Weedman to make a better run this season.