Best early Bellator events

[dead joe]

Hello there, so it's all in the title basically. I'm looking for "old" (say, before 2015) Bellator cards to watch to get a feel of what it was like back then. I've seen the big fights like Masvidal-Imada or the Alvarez-Chandler trilogy, but am looking for full cards, that delivered from start to finish.

Is there a couple or a handful of cards that stick out, or was it pretty much always just about one big fight and some filler at that time?

Thank you guys

 

[Falconkick]

Bellator 12, first time crowning their LW and MW champs. You got Masvidal, Lombard, Alvarez, Luis Palomino aswell. Great event with some slick finishes and brutal punishment.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Nearly all of Bjorn-era Bellator was incredible. Evenly matched tournaments with 8 solid contenders. The only negative were the stupid non-title fights involving champs, which left us with idiocy like Mpumbu vs Wiuff.

Bellator 90 was all highlight reels.

 

[TheBrownRanger]

I'm never able to find full Bjorn-era cards online. Besides highlights, the Coker regime doesn't really show stuff from 2014 and back.

 

[AmericanMMA]

Pat Curran had fun fights in the early days. I don't know where to find them though. I tuned into Bellator for the first time to watch Roger Huerta who was a STUD in the UFC and was arguably Bellators biggest signing at the time. I had no idea who Pat Curran was, but he beat Huerta by a clear UD. That is when I started watching Bellator.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Pat Curran had fun fights in the early days. I don't know where to find them though. I tuned into Bellator for the first time to watch Roger Huerta who was a STUD in the UFC and was arguably Bellators biggest signing at the time. I had no idea who Pat Curran was, but he beat Huerta by a clear UD. That is when I started watching Bellator.

Was a massive upset at the time.

 

[kimocomplex]

Michael Chandler vs Eddie Alvarez 1

dont remember what else was on the card, but that fight alone can make it

 

[tony pepperoni]

I loved the MTV-2 era of Bellator

Friday Night

 

[KeeSmyth]

Shahbulat Shamhalaev tournament win was one of the best and most destructive

 

[thewilks]

Pre-Coker Bellator was great. Never thought I would be saying that because Strikeforce was incredible.

 

[sutherland]

Pre-Coker Bellator was great. Never thought I would be saying that because Strikeforce was incredible.

It's almost like Coker is a UFC schill. Maybe he Dana fat cousin, the share similar hair genetics

 

[thewilks]

It's almost like Coker is a UFC schill. Maybe he Dana fat cousin, the share similar hair genetics

I'm not well studied on the details but my understanding was that when Strikeforce was absorbed he became a UFC employee in some capacity. So I always wondered if him going to Bellator was UFCs way of defending their position against the anti-trust stuff. Whether Coker was in on it or not.

 

[GSP_37]

I wish I could watch the Toby Imada inverted triangle vs. Jorge Masvidal. I think maybe Bellator was only on the Spanish channel back then.

 

[InfinityLens]

Watch the stuff from Askren and Kole Konrad.

Coker Bellator was great until Kimbo v DD5K scared him off freakshows.

 

[ez8o5]

King Mo vs Emmanuel Newton event was the best, seemed like every fight ended in a finish

 

[asdf122345]

Bjorn era. Once it became mainstream, it never felt the same again.

 

[SBC]

As EndlessCritic said, Bellator 90 is MUST WATCH! Literally should've been named "You Got KTFO!" Because so many of the fights ended in brutal KO's. Was headlined by Shakhbulat Shamalaev vs Rad Martinez and took place in Salt Lake City. Bellator's 1st season is must watch.