Tag: bjorn rebney

Bellator 110 Recap: Rampage KOs M’Pumbu, King Mo Edges Zayats, Rebney Announces Next PPV


(Photo via Getty)

Bellator is back, but not necessarily in a big way. Bellator 110 saw the more marketable Rampage Jackson and Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal prevail, but neither man looked stellar.

What about the rest of the card? The event started off rocky. The first two preliminary bouts ended in unsatisfying no contests—the first due to an accidental illegal knee. The second was the result of an accidental eye poke.

Of note: Daniel Weichel defeated Scott Cleve in the quarterfinal round of Bellator’s season 10 featherweight tournament. He won via submission, though the rear-naked choke was set up by a gorgeous straight right. When Cleve was on the mat, his brains were far too scrambled to adequately prevent Weichel from taking his back and working for the choke. In another prelim quarterfinal bout, Will Martinez upset the highly touted, 21-year-old prospect, Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision. Martinez was stronger and fought a smarter fight. He bullied and smothered Yamauchi, who was stymied by Martinez’s aggression.

The main card kicked off with the third featherweight tournament quarterfinal.


(Photo via Getty)

Bellator is back, but not necessarily in a big way. Bellator 110 saw the more marketable Rampage Jackson and Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal prevail, but neither man looked stellar.

What about the rest of the card? The event started off rocky. The first two preliminary bouts ended in unsatisfying no contests—the first due to an accidental illegal knee. The second was the result of an accidental eye poke.

Of note: Daniel Weichel defeated Scott Cleve in the quarterfinal round of Bellator’s season 10 featherweight tournament. He won via submission, though the rear-naked choke was set up by a gorgeous straight right. When Cleve was on the mat, his brains were far too scrambled to adequately prevent Weichel from taking his back and working for the choke. In another prelim quarterfinal bout, Will Martinez upset the highly touted, 21-year-old prospect, Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision. Martinez was stronger and fought a smarter fight. He bullied and smothered Yamauchi, who was stymied by Martinez’s aggression.

The main card kicked off with the third featherweight tournament quarterfinal. Mike Richman met Des Green. The latter fighter prevailed in a closely contested but ultimately forgettable decision win.

Up next came the fourth and final featherweight tournament quarterfinal bout. Matt Bessette faced off against UFC veteran Diego Nunes . This match was even closer than Richman-Green, and had more entertainment value to boot (head kicks galore, good exchanges, an active guard on display, etc). Bessette walked away with a split decision victory.

The co-main event of the evening featured Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal in a light heavyweight tournament semifinal (yes, you read that right. It’s a semifinal; the Bellator season 10 LHW tourney only has four fights) against Mikhail Zayats. This was by far the worst fight of the night. King Mo was expected to thrash Zayats, but he did no such thing. He gassed early, and never mounted much meaningful offense. Some few-and-far-between strikes and takedown attempts earned King Mo a unanimous decision win. If he shows up like this against Rampage Jackson (yes, even de -motivated 2014 Rampage), he’ll be destroyed—especially since Jackson’s performance was superior to Mo’s.

Jackson fought Christian M’Pumbu in the main event. The fight was awful until Jackson capitalized on M’Pumbu slipping, earning a TKO with ground and pound. How bad was the fight though? Both men literally put their hands down and started shrugging at each other in the first 30 seconds, perplexed at the other’s inactivity. This glorified dance routine continued until the end of the fight (save for one impressive flurry by Jackson).

If the fight was bad, the post-fight hysterics were worse. First, Jackson stood over M’pumbu’s listless body and started shouting at him. After that bit of theater, Jackson interrupted his own post-fight interview to start screaming at King Mo when he was brought into the cage. It got ugly, a bunch of pudgy production guys had to separate the two. It wasn’t quite Strikeforce: Nashville bad but it was close.

Another bit of news: Bjorn Rebney announced Bellator’s next PPV (because it worked sooo well the first time). The main event will be Michael Chandler-Eddie Alvarez III. It will take place on May 17th.

Here are the complete results for the night:

Main Card

Rampage Jackson def. Christian M’Pumbu via KO, 4:34 of round 1
Muhammad Lawal def. Mikhail Zayats via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Matt Bessette def. Diego Nunes via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Desmond Green def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Will Martinez def. Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Daniel Weichel def. Scott Cleve via submission (rear naked choke), 3:46 of round 1
Saul Almeida def. Andrew Fisher via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Egidijus Valavicius def. Atanas Djambazov via KO, 0:48 of round 1
Ryan Quinn de. Andrew Calandrelli via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Manny Lara vs. Josh Diekman, No Contest, 0:18 of round 1
Marvin Maldonado vs. Rico DiSciullo, No Contest, 1:53 of round 1

 

Dana White: ‘Bjorn Rebney Is out of His F—–g Mind, Guys Want out of Bellator’

People may not always agree with the way the UFC conducts business, but at least they’re not “bullies” like Bellator, according to Dana White.
The UFC president has vehemently deflected criticism over the past few days following …

People may not always agree with the way the UFC conducts business, but at least they’re not “bullies” like Bellator, according to Dana White.

The UFC president has vehemently deflected criticism over the past few days following a falling out with Gilbert Melendez in negotiations for a new deal.

During an appearance on UFC Tonight, White claimed he was done trying to do business with Melendez’s manager, and he suggested the lightweight contender either talk to UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta or “look elsewhere” for a job.

Those comments apparently didn’t sit well with Melendez’s team. Cesar Gracie, Melendez’s longtime coach, took to Twitter (h/t MMAFighting.com) and stated that Melendez “won’t be punked” by White and company. The post has since been deleted from Gracie’s Twitter.

Last week, Melendez agreed to terms on a contract with one of UFC’s biggest rivals, Bellator Fighting Championships. The UFC now has the choice to either match Bellator’s offer sheet or risk losing one of the best lightweights in the world.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney revealed in an interview with MMAFighting.com that the Melendez deal was just the first of many more to come. The UFC is no longer the only show in town, and Bellator, who is backed by a financial juggernaut in Viacom, is prepared to go after every big name on the market.

In White’s eyes, signing a deal with Bellator is like signing your entire career away, a point he made in a pre-fight media scrum for UFC 170:

If Melendez f—–g signs a deal with those guys, he ain’t going anywhere. Nobody can get out of those f—–g deals they have, and Viacom will sue you until you f—–g bleed. That’s a whole other ballgame over there. Everybody wants to talk about the UFC like we’re bullies and whatever.

They’re the f—–g bullies, and they got these contracts that you cannot get out of. Look at Eddie Alvarez. … Who doesn’t want to jump that ship? You think [Michael] Chandler wants to be there? Chandler’s sitting there going, ‘I just signed that f—–g deal. Oh my god, why did I sign that deal?’ Nobody wants to be there. They’re in these dirty, nasty contracts that you can never get out of.

Alvarez’s contract troubles with Bellator have been well publicized over the past year. After receiving an offer from the UFC, the Bellator lightweight champ made the wrongful assumption that he was on his way to greener pastures.

During an interview with Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter, Alvarez explained that he was under the impression that Bellator would let him walk for a high offer, but they would pony up and match the numbers if the UFC attempted to low-ball.

Unfortunately for the lightweight star, things never panned out that easily. Bellator fought tooth and nail to retain the rights to Alvarez’s contract and match the UFC’s offer sheet. The contract looked solid from a numerical standpoint, but numbers only tell half the story.

Bellator could match the UFC’s pay-per-view percentage on paper only, but in reality, Alvarez would have made more money competing on a UFC pay-per-view card due to an obvious gap in sales. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Bellator is far behind the UFC in the pay-per-view business.

This still didn’t stop Bellator from slapping Alvarez with a lawsuit and forcing his hand on a settlement.

UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman has also spoken out about a bad experience he had a few years ago when mulling over a Bellator contract. In an interview with the New York Post (h/t MMAFighting.com), Weidman revealed that he nearly signed a multifight deal with Bellator back in 2010.

While perusing the contract, Weidman’s uncle, a lawyer, found a tucked-away clause that could potentially keep his nephew locked into the deal several years after the original agreement. Weidman admitted to feeling “betrayed” by Bellator over the “sneaky” contract.

White echoes Weidman’s feelings:

Guys are trying to f—–g get out of that place. They’ve got these contracts that you can’t get out of. Look what they did to Eddie Alvarez. Eddie Alvarez has fought once in like two years, was promised all kinds of things that he never had.

The difference is we don’t sue our fighters. If a guy is trying to do something with his career, move on and test the waters, we don’t sue him. We don’t jump in and start suing our fighters. People are trying to jump that ship, not jump onto that ship. [Rebney] is out of his f—–g mind. Gilbert is out there testing the market, good for him. I don’t have any hard feelings towards Gilbert Melendez.

The UFC still has the option to match Bellator’s offer for Melendez. Whether they choose to invoke that clause remains to be seen.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bjorn Rebney: Examining the Bellator CEO’s Plumetting Popularity

Mixed martial arts fans don’t like Bjorn Rebney. Let’s not finesse the issue. Of all the follicly challenged MMA promoters out there, the Bellator CEO is unarguably the least popular.
It wasn’t always that way, of course. When th…

Mixed martial arts fans don’t like Bjorn Rebney. Let’s not finesse the issue. Of all the follicly challenged MMA promoters out there, the Bellator CEO is unarguably the least popular.

It wasn’t always that way, of course. When the California-based promotion first gained our attention back in 2009, fans were quick to throw their support behind the fledgling organization.

Rather than snatching up overpriced free agents and immediately trying to compete with the UFC, Rebney instead chose to invest in fighter potential and a novel tournament format.

Title shots were to be earned, not given, we were told. Regardless of whether one made Jon Fitch look like Diego Sanchez, the relatively simple act of winning ensured that one’s career would remain on an upward trajectory. Lateral moves had been banished by design.

Certainly, the tournament model had its limitations, but there was no reason why Bellator’s strict meritocratic philosophy couldn’t evolve as time passed and circumstances changed.

As was the case with Strikeforce, fans were, for the most part, willing to come along for the ride and offer their support.

After all, the existence of strong alternatives to the UFC is good for the sport. It not only provides consumers with more options, but more importantly, it offers leverage and more employment opportunities for our fighters.

What changed, then? Perception has shifted so dramatically over the past two years that it would be tough to identify a solitary issue that turned the tide of public opinion.

A confluence of factors has led to Bellator’s current PR issues within the MMA community, arguably starting with Viacom’s purchase of a majority stake in the promotion in late 2011.

No longer perceived as “the little promotion that could,” the fans’ tolerance for any moral missteps appeared to dissipate rapidly. And rightly or wrongly, Bellator’s transgressions are considered Rebney’s transgressions, with the two now widely viewed as being almost interchangeable.

How much control the former litigator actually has over the promotion’s direction is unclear, but his passionate defense of its every action has led to the perception that the buck stops with him.

When Bellator appeared to be sabotaging the careers of Tyson Nam and Eddie Alvarez, it was Rebney who absorbed the full force of the MMA community’s backlash.

Whether he is solely responsible for these and other unpopular promotional tactics, the zeal with which he publicly assumes responsibility means that the criticism is justified. Rebney is telling us ad nauseam that he is in charge, so who are we to say otherwise?

Even in light of the PR disaster that was the Alvarez contract dispute, there was no real barrier to rehabilitating Bellator’s image, particularly when the former lightweight champion relented and re-signed with the promotion.

Unfortunately, Rebney continued to draw the ire of the fans with many of his decisions.

Despite being a wholly transparent attempt to sidestep the tournament format, the introduction of a championship rematch clause was, as a business decision, a sound idea. In order to grow, Bellator had to evolve.

However, Rebney’s anti-UFC rhetoric had largely focused on the arbitrariness of its matchmaking and the virtues of Bellator’s tournament format. Rather than concede that a certain amount of decisional whimsy is a good thing, he instead attempted to represent the decision to introduce the clause as being philosophically consistent.

Few things rile people more than hypocrisy. Not practicing what one dogmatically preaches is a fantastic way to hemorrhage even your most sympathetic supporters.

Then again, the championship rematch clause afforded us the opportunity to see the long-awaited rematch between Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez, so the pitchforks remained in storage temporarily.

Even when Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal was crowbarred into an interim light heavyweight title fight, despite the division’s champion, Attila Vegh, claiming to be healthy enough to compete, we gave Rebney the benefit of the doubt.

But the last straw was the decision to hand Pat Curran a thoroughly undeserved rematch with his recent conqueror Daniel Straus, despite the pair’s recent bout being as lopsided as any title fight in recent memory.

As a result, the season nine featherweight tournament champion, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, is forced to wait for the shot that he, by the organization’s own matchmaking philosophy, had earned.

Even the most Bellator-friendly journalist would be pained to defend the persistent hypocrisy.

One wonders whether the promotion would be better off without Rebney at this point. He has so thoroughly discredited himself in the eyes of the fans that it would be inaccurate to describe him as merely polarizing.

On the other hand, the memory of the average sports fan tends to make goldfish look like they have photographic recall. The prevailing attitude of “what have you done for me lately?” means that fans are only too willing to forgive and forget so long as you give them a reason to.

Whether Rebney’s personality allows him to earn absolution in the future remains to be seen. Given our fickle nature, I’m not inclined to bet against him.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bjorn Rebney: ‘GSP Doesn’t Owe Anything, UFC Reaction Was Tasteless’

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney is appalled by UFC President Dana White’s treatment of former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Leading up to his UFC 167 title fight with Johny Hendricks, St-Pierre was adamant about stepping up drug testing for …

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney is appalled by UFC President Dana White’s treatment of former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

Leading up to his UFC 167 title fight with Johny Hendricks, St-Pierre was adamant about stepping up drug testing for the bout in hopes of setting a positive example for MMA. St-Pierre offered to pay for Hendricks to join him in random tests administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA).

After initially agreeing to the tests, Hendricks soon changed his mind due to a gut feeling that something was amiss. He instead opted for the testing to be done by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

A confusing battle of acronyms ensued for days between St-Pierre and Hendricks until White appeared on Fox Sports’ Google Hangout and said that the entire incident made them both look stupid.

St-Pierre, who obviously appears to be more forthcoming with the French media, explained in an interview with La Presse (h/t BJPenn.com) that he was “very disappointed” by the lack of support in the UFC. The bout with Hendricks served only to exacerbate an already rocky situation.

After being awarded a controversial split decision, a battered and bloodied St-Pierre announced that he would be going on an extended hiatus to deal with some things in his personal life.

Still fuming over the decision, White exploded at the post-fight press conference, claiming that St-Pierre owed it to the UFC and fans to give Hendricks an immediate rematch. It was an odd choice of words considering St-Pierre has been the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view draw for years, and he owns the record for most time spent in the Octagon by a fighter.

When asked to chime in during the Bellator 110 media conference call, Rebney was very critical of the UFC’s handling of the entire situation (h/t MMA Fighting):

I do have an opinion on some of the comments that have been going back and forth with GSP. The UFC set the bar pretty high in terms of tasteless comments, but their recent comments on Georges St-Pierre are some of the most tasteless comments they’ve made in some time. I look at GSP as one of the greatest and most honorable champions our sport has ever seen.

On December 13, St-Pierre announced he would be vacating the UFC title and going on an indefinite leave from MMA.

The initial assumption was that the decision was based on a personal need to step away and take a break from fighting. But in January, fans learned that an opportunity to finally live a normal life wasn’t the only reason St-Pierre made the decision to hang up the gloves.

During a scrum with the French media (h/t MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani), St-Pierre credited the UFC’s refusal to take his drug-testing ideas seriously as one of the main reasons he decided to leave.

He argued that the UFC would have to forgo its passive approach regarding pre-fight drug testing if it ever hopes to be accepted worldwide like other mainstream sports.

Rebney believes the former champ made some great points:

I don’t think GSP owes us as fans anything. I don’t think that GSP owes the UFC anything. He’s given us fans and the organization he’s fought for, he’s given everything. I think we should all be thankful we’ve had a guy like that fight in the last 10 years. A lot of his points are good points. He’s been a de facto ambassador for our sport for a long period of time, and I put a lot of credence and credibility in what he’s talking about.

If St-Pierre’s return hinges on change in the UFC, he should probably go ahead and make his retirement official, especially after hearing White’s response on Fox Sports.

As usual, it appears to be Uncle Dana’s way or the highway, no exceptions.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rebney Wants White to Stop Saying ‘The Best in the World Fight in the UFC’

Apparently, Bellator MMA CEO Bjorn Rebney still holds former welterweight champ Ben Askren in high light—despite the fact that he shockingly released the renowned wrestler on Nov. 14.
During an interview with Sherdog’s Beatdown Radio, Rebney&nbsp…

Apparently, Bellator MMA CEO Bjorn Rebney still holds former welterweight champ Ben Askren in high light—despite the fact that he shockingly released the renowned wrestler on Nov. 14.

During an interview with Sherdog’s Beatdown Radio, Rebney colorfully elaborated on UFC president Dana White‘s decision to pass on Askren, a former two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champ who recently signed with Singapore-based promotion ONE FC.

It didn’t follow the philosophy that the UFC espouses. It didn’t follow their tagline, and it was too bad that they didn’t even make him an offer. I understand if they’d made him an offer and Ben turned it down, but to not even make the No. 6-ranked guy in the world an offer, then stop saying the best fighters in the world fight in the UFC.

The unbeaten Askren (12-0) won nine straight fights in Bellator MMA, including five in 170-pound title scraps.

But roughly three months after Askren defended his belt for the fourth straight time with a lopsided win over Andrey Koreshkov, Rebney parted ways with the most dominant champ in the company’s history.

Following his win over Koreshkov in late July, Askren and Rebney began engaging in unpleasant contractual disputes, a fallout that eventually led to Askren‘s release.

Still, despite their differences, Rebney contends that because Askren handled Bellator MMA’s best with relative ease, he could do the same against top-flight UFC competition.

The reality with Ben Askren is that the UFC didn’t want a one-dimensional Bellator champion being champion of the UFC, so they shied away from him, and then they’ve gone radio silent on him, trying not to engage in conversation because they don’t want the conversation to continue. Ben Askren would have run the table at (170) at the UFC. Ben Askren ran the table here; he would have run the table there.

Rebney, however, has little leverage in his argument that Bellator is saturated with the sport’s best fighters, especially considering Askren has yet to face a world-ranked welterweight. 

Rebney may seem rash, but he’s correct if he’s assuming his bold claims will go untested for at least a few years. After all, Askren‘s under contract for two years and six fights with ONE FC, where the welterweight title is currently up for grabs. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

And Now He’s Fired: Bellator Releases Ben Saunders, For Some Reason [UPDATED]


(“You want to put me on a t-shirt? Sure, sounds great buddy!” — Marcus Davis / Photo via topmmanews)

Since his Bellator debut in 2011, Ben Saunders has been one of the most visible and entertaining members of the promotion’s welterweight division. But unfortunately, he was never able to win a tournament, failing to secure the Big Check in three consecutive years. And so, in the wake of his head kick knockout loss to Douglas Lima at Bellator 100 in September, Bellator has released the Killa B. Bjorn Rebney explained the decision in a statement released to MMAMania:

“I’ve been a ‘Killa B’ fan for years, and Ben’s given 100 percent of his heart every single time he’s stepped into the Bellator cage. After competing in three Bellator tournaments, Ben could never get to the top of that mountain, and as we continue to grow and expand I spoke to Ben and we both decided it was time to move in a different direction, so we provided Ben his complete release.“


(“You want to put me on a t-shirt? Sure, sounds great buddy!” — Marcus Davis / Photo via topmmanews)

Since his Bellator debut in 2011, Ben Saunders has been one of the most visible and entertaining members of the promotion’s welterweight division. But unfortunately, he was never able to win a tournament, failing to secure the Big Check in three consecutive years. And so, in the wake of his head kick knockout loss to Douglas Lima at Bellator 100 in September, Bellator has released the Killa B. Bjorn Rebney explained the decision in a statement released to MMAMania:

“I’ve been a ‘Killa B’ fan for years, and Ben’s given 100 percent of his heart every single time he’s stepped into the Bellator cage. After competing in three Bellator tournaments, Ben could never get to the top of that mountain, and as we continue to grow and expand I spoke to Ben and we both decided it was time to move in a different direction, so we provided Ben his complete release.”

Saunders compiled a 7-3 record in Bellator, with two of his losses coming in the finals of 170-pound tournaments — both to Lima, both by second-round KO. Last year, he also lost a decision to Bryan Baker in the semifinals of Bellator’s Season 6 welterweight tourney. Just like Yushin Okami, Saunders could have theoretically continued on this “perennial contender” path forever, coming close to title contention in Bellator, but not quite reaching the goal. Instead, he’ll be looking for new opportunities in World Series of Fighting or One FC, with the rest of MMA’s lost souls.

It’s understandable that Bellator wants to get some fresh bodies in the division. Then again, they just released a guy who won three of his last four fights and still has more name value than any other WW currently in the company besides War Machine. Did Bellator make the right call here?

Update: Ben’s tweet from last night…